The Golden Quartet - Year Two
by September And Summer
Summary: Amara Matthews is about to start her second year at Hogwarts and she hopes it will be just as fun as the last. Her hope comes true when Harry hears strange voices in the walls, and the Chamber of Secrets opens by the Heir of Slytherin. When terror takes over the school, Amara and her friends, Harry, Ron and Hermione are the only ones able to save the day. 2/7 in the series - R
1. Wizarding France

**_A/N So we're officially onto the second book! YAY! Please review and I hope you enjoy!:) _**

**_Chapter One_**

**_Wizarding France_**

Amara Matthews shifted slightly on the hard plastic seat at the airport. She had half an hour to wait before her plane came in, and she was very bored. Her parents had instructed her to put her wand, which she had insisted on bringing, inside her suitcase with all her schoolbooks that she wanted to read. She was trying to occupy herself and Tessie, who was very eager to go on holiday to France, just as she was eager to get even more information from Amara about Hogwarts. The Matthews family were taking a holiday to the south of France, to see her mother's sister and her children. Amara was excited – but she was rather put out that she had to pretend she was a muggle for three weeks. She had only been home a week and a half, but when they got back she was allowed to have Hermione over to stay for a week in the middle of the holiday.

Amara decided to get a drink from the shop as she needed something to calm herself. She had never been fond of flying –and she sometimes could get sick but luckily this flight wasn't very long. She bought a cup of tea from the grumpy lady at the counter, who looked as though she needed to go to sleep, and wandered back to where her family were sitting. As it was very early in the morning, the airport wasn't completely packed as it would have been. She took a sip of her tea and winced as she burnt her lip. Ethan was stretched out over two seats, napping and Tessie was playing on her father's Game Boy.

Amara thoughts wandered to her friends, Hermione was probably reading, Ron playing Quidditch and Harry – well, Amara didn't know, for she hadn't heard from him yet. She had got letters (or phone calls in Hermione's case) from Ron and Hermione (Ron's was a little brief) and they had told her Harry hadn't contacted them either. Amara wasn't _that _worried, for it was rather soon after school had ended.

Finally Amara's flight came in at half past seven and they were able to board the aeroplane. Amara was sat by the window next to her mum, with Tessie the other side of Mrs Matthews. Amara gripped the seat as the started to move and closed her eyes. Her seat vibrated as the plane lifted off from the runway. It shot into the sky, gracefully from viewers, but to Amara, it was rather shaky.

'Goodbye England,' she thought.

-OOOOOO-

Three hours later, after a half an hour car journey, they arrived at Amara's family's house in Cannes. Louis, her Uncle, had picked them up in his truck. It was very hot in France, and Amara was trying to get used to it. She had already gotten rid of her shirt, and now was in her T Shirt. She had changed her cropped trousers for shorts too.

"Bryony – David! It's lovely to see you again!" cried Elisabeth Reynolds excitedly as she hurried down the steps of the house they had drawn up to, her English accent contrasting to Louis', who was from France himself. "_Amara! _You look so grown up! And you Tessie – Ethan, look, Jesse! Noah! Tally, come here and greet them!"

Three others came out of the shadows. Jesse, aged 15, in a few days, was tall and tanned, he had thick dark brown hair and blue eyes. He obviously knew about the heat, for he was in a loose T Shirt and shorts, with flip flops. Noah, aged 14, was shorter than Jesse and had much longer hair, it was nearly down to his shoulders – in fact, he had put some of it in a little ponytail. Noah, it seemed, preferred darker clothes, but even he had a T shirt and cropped trousers. His baseball boots were scuffed and smeared. Tally, age only 11, was petite with dark blonde hair from her father and wore it in two plaits; she looked very sweet with her short dungarees and top.

"_Bonjour_," grinned Tally, bouncing down the steps, Jesse and Noah trailed somewhat glumly behind.

"_Bonjour_ Amara, nice to see you." Jesse said, smiling a little bit.

"Don't mind zem," Tally said "Jesse's upset 'e can't read 'is new book."

Jessie shot a glare at Tally, who didn't notice. The Reynolds greeted them some more before Mrs Matthews asked if they could have something cool to drink. Elisabeth hurried them inside at once, and bustled about, getting them their drinks. Amara hadn't been in this house before, for they had moved in only a year and a half ago, and Amara hadn't yet visited. Before that, they lived in a large flat in Nice. This house was much nicer, though, with its wooden beams and polished wooden floors.

"Tally, could you show Amara to her room? Sorry, you have the attic conversion, as we only have one spare room. Bryony, David, you're in that, and Ethan, you're on the make-shift bed, Tessie, you're sharing with Tally." said Elisabeth, noting their suitcases.

Amara followed Tally up the spiral staircase all the way up to the loft. Tally sat on the small bed in the room, watching Amara open her suitcase. The loft conversion was the length of the house, but half of it was a storage area. There was also a bathroom, and there was a spiral staircase leading up to it, from the second floor. There was a big bed, chest of drawers and a wardrobe, as well as an armchair and lamp. On the white-washed walls strung numerous photos of the Reynolds on holiday – Zimbabwe, Italy, Spain, England. There were a few of her as well, one with all of them, and one with just her and Tally. People she didn't know, like the ones on Louis' side of the family, were there too. It was probably because she was used to the wizarding world, but Amara thought she saw those ones move. She got her things out of her suitcase and put them in the wardrobe and chest of drawers

"What's zat?" asked Tally rather sharply, pointing at something in the suitcase as Amara folded clothes inside the small chest of drawers. Amara turned and saw, with a lurch, it was her wand, tucked inside a sock, which was the only thing left, apart from her wizard books.

"Umm…"

"It's a wand."

Amara's eyes bugged. "W-What?"

Tally started grinning, "Don't say – you're a witch? You go to _'Ogwarts?"_

Before Amara could answer, Tally hollered down the stairs "_JESSE! NOAH!"_

Then she grabbed her hand and pulled her down the stairs. They banged into Noah and Jesse's room at full speed. Their room was a lot bigger than the loft; it was nearly halved, for there were two beds on either side of the room, the walls around it decorated in their own way.

"Tally!" snapped Jesse, looking up from the magazine he was reading. "What zee hell?"

"Amara's a WITCH!"

There was silence.

"No way," said Noah, shaking his fringe out the way. He was sat on the bean bag, playing Tetris.

"_Yeah _way, I saw her wand _and _the books – it's in her suitcase."

"Are you?" asked Jesse, plopping his basketball onto his bed.

Amara nodded.

The three siblings grinned.

"Are you ones too? I thought I saw the pictures moving upstairs,"

Tally nodded "I zought so too,"

"Zank _Merlin!_" Jesse said "I zought I had to act like a muggle for three weeks! We had to put Rugby in Mama and Papa's room and shove our Quidditch stuff away and everyzing! Do you play Quidditch?"

"Do you go to 'Ogwarts? Which 'ouse are you in? We go to Beauxbatons, but Hogwarts sounds better, no Ballroom dancing or stuff like zat…"

"Can we see your wand? What's 'Ogwarts like? Can we go play Quidditch? Are Tessie and Ethan magical too?"

-OOOOOO-

Half an hour later, Amara was sat at the table with the entire household (including Rugby the Owl, who seemed ruffled to have been shoved in Elizabeth and Louis' room before they came) absorbing all the information she could.

Louis was in fact a half-blood wizard, but Elisabeth was a muggle, for her sister was Amara's mother, and she was defiantly a muggle through and through. Jesse, Noah and Tally were all magical – they went (Tally was going to, in September) to the French school Beauxbatons Academy of Magic – Jesse had just finished his fourth year and Noah his third. Beauxbatons was the French equivalent to Hogwarts, but it seemed more classy and elegant than the castle of Hogwarts. It was in the Pyrenees, on the border or France, and Jesse said it was very beautiful. From what Jesse said, it was more of a palace than a castle. They were allowed to go to a tiny wizard village when they were in fifth year, a place called '_Palais'. _Beauxbatons, it seemed, was a little more structured than Hogwarts, it seemed much more graceful. They were divided equally into the four wings of the castle, so there was a fair amount of skill in each one, unless there were siblings, and then they were sorted into the same house. There was the North Wing (_Nord) _South Wing (_Sud) _East Wing (_Est) _and the West Wing (_Ouest). _Each had a different animal, which were very graceful and peaceful, that they had a pin for, which they pinned to the front of their blue silk robes. North had a Swan, in silver, South had a Peacock, in blue, East had a Dove, in white and West had a Butterfly, in gold. Jesse and Noah were both in the West Wing and Jesse was a Chaser for their Quidditch Team. Noah didn't seem to be as interested in Quidditch as Jesse, he liked to draw pictures and take photos, but he still liked to play, as beater, mostly. According to Jesse, the captain, François Bellerose, had been trying to get Noah to try out the entire year, after he saw him play. They seemed to have the same lessons as Hogwarts did, with slightly different names, and they had the extras you had to take in third year. But they had extra classes as well, once a week each, they had to do a language lesson (they learnt English) a Dance lesson, which was generally Ballroom, considering how many Balls they had in the year ("Autumn, Christmas, Spring, Summer, eet iz ridiculous!" Noah said), and an Art and Writing lesson, where they perfected magical Art and had perfect calligraphy handwriting. Noah seemed to be very good at the art side, and Jesse was good at the lessons they had, he excelled in his language, probably because of his English mother. Beauxbatons accepted students from France, Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands, so it had a wide range of students. Louis was very surprised when he heard about Amara's magical blood, and Mrs Matthews was highly affronted that her sister had not told her about her husband.

"It's not allowed," she said "You can't tell our family or David's family either," 

Jesse, Noah and especially Tally were amazed to know that Amara was friends with The Harry Potter, for he was slightly famous in France as well. They had all heard what he did, and eventhough Voldemort hadn't affected France, they were all glad to know of his disappearance. They (mainly Tally) begged for stories about him, but Amara told them of what she did in her first year and which house she was in. Mr and Mrs Matthews didn't seem to believe her, they thought she was making it up, but Louis had a smile on his face. Louis himself worked at the Ministry of Magic, but the French version – the _République magique de la_ _France_ – in the _Département de la Coopération Magique International, _which was the Department of International Magical Cooperation.

They decided to take Amara to their equivalent to Diagon Alley – Réver Vallée, a string of shops in a hidden valley somewhere in France. They decided to 'Floo' there, as Elisabeth and Louis were staying at the house with the rest of the family, which was a mode of transport which used a fireplace. Amara was nervous about this, she had never done it before and it did not sound all that safe.

"You get a handful of floo powder, throw it in zee fire and say your destination clearly – remember, it's pronounced 're-ve val-eh'." said Jesse, holding a glass pot filled with powder that was on the mantelpiece.

"Remember to keep your arms tucked in and don't breathe in zee ash," Noah advised "Look, I'll go first."

He threw the powder into the fire (which had been lit just for this) which made the flames go green. He stepped in and said clearly "Réver Vallée!"

He disappeared in a puff. Amara blinked. Jesse nudged her "You go next," he said.

Amara hesitantly stepped up to the fireplace, looking warily at the flames. She got a pinch of the Floo Powder and threw it in the flames, which went higher than her. Gingerly stepping in, she was shocked to find that they didn't hurt. She gulped and pressed her arms to her sides tightly, bracing herself.

"Réver Vallée!" she said and began to have the most uncomfortable experience she had ever had.

It felt like she was a spinning top falling down towards the floor. She was sucked downwards so fast her eyes watered and she nearly gagged when she opened her mouth to scream and a bit of ash came in, she remembered what Noah said and shut her mouth. The noise was deafening and it hurt her eyes to keep them open – the swirl of green flames was sickening. She was just wishing it would stop when she fell face forwards onto the floor in a cosy café. She heard laughter from above, and she lifted her head she saw Noah standing there with a girl and a boy. She rubbed her nose slightly, for she had bumped it on the floor.

The boy helped her up, grinning.

" 're you alright?" he asked, his French accent very pronounce. Amara nodded, smiling. She brushed herself free of soot and looked around the café. It was pretty, wooden tables stood neatly everywhere with chequered tablecloths.

"Zeese are friends from school," said Noah as Jesse zoomed into view. The girl immediately blushed and looked away. "Zey're in my 'ouse, but Adrien iz een ze year above, with Jesse – zey're siblings by zee way, Adeline and Adrien Page."

The two were very alike – each had silvery blonde hair and stormy grey-blue eyes with unnaturally long eyelashes. Adeline's hair was even longer than Amara's, and reached the small of her back. She was still slightly pink from Jesse's arrival. Jesse did seem to be getting a lot of attention, girls in the café kept flicking they're gaze back and forth.

"Where do you want to go first?" asked Jesse, flicking his hair.

"Shall we get a drink?" asked Adrien "We 'ave a table over zere, Aleex – our bruzzer – iz saving eet for us."

Amara agreed.

"Why don't you and Adrien order drinks – you can test out your French, Bryony said zat you were taught it when you were a leetle younger?" Jesse asked, his eyes twinkling. "I remember trying to teech you."

Amara scowled "Just a little bit," she said "I'm probably extremely rusty!"

"Don't worry!" Adrien smiled, as the others laughed and went to sit down with a boy with blonde hair the same as them. "I'll 'elp 'ou!"

They approached the counter where a pretty barmaid was serving the drinks. She grinned at the sight of Adrien.

"_Bonjour, Mademoiselle Gwendolyn!" _Adrien said, in perfect French "_Comment allez-vous? Je ne t'ai pas vu depuis très longtemps!"_

_"Salut, cher Adrien!" _replied Gwendolyn the barmaid "_Je suis bien, merci, mais aujourd'hui est plutôt occupé! Ça fait longtemps – comment est Beauxbâtons?"_

"_C'est fantastique, j'ai examens_ _dans deux ans !" _Adrien said.

Amara had gotten most of the conversation, for she used to be very good at French, when they visited Elisabeth often, but hadn't practised properly in about three years.

"_C'est Amara en passant, le cousin de Jesse d'Angleterre," _Adrien said, when Gwendolyn glanced questioningly at her.

"Ah," said Gwen "_Bonjour, _Amara, 'ow iz your French?"

"Er-." Amara said "_Il est un peu rouillé!" _

Gwen laughed "You 'ave a beauteeful accent, _ma cher. _Do you go to 'Ogwarts?"

"_Oui,"_ Amara grinned "I just finished my first-year."

"Could we order drinks?" Adrien asked "Amara – try out your French again, do you learn it at Hogwarts?"

"No," Amara said "We don't have a language class; I heard Beauxbatons does though, is that true?"

Adrien nodded "Zat's 'ow I learnt my eenglish! Eet's very useful. But eef I did not go to Beauxbâtons, I would not know 'ow to speek eet. My muzzer and father do not know, so we try and teech them. "

"Oh, that's nice. _Je voudrais un milk-shake fraise, s'il vous plais, et un thé, deux café et un milk-shake banana et un chocolat." _Amara struggled. Gwen beamed.

"Perfect!"

They paid first and then sat down with the others. They introduced Alex, who was the same age as Amara, before interrogating Amara about England and Hogwarts.

"I 'eard zere waz an 'ousing seestem as weel. Is zis true?" Adeline asked.

Amara nodded "There are four houses, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. I'm in Gryffindor."

"Isn't _Slythereen _full of bad wizards?" Alex asked. "I read about eet in a book on European schools."

"Well, that's what everyone says," Amara said, unsurely, for she was sure that not _all _Slytherins could be bad.

"She iz friends wiz Ze 'Arry Potter!" Noah burst out, as Gwen had given them their drinks. Amara choked on her strawberry milkshake and Jesse thumped her on the back, grinning.

The three Pages stared.

"Oh, wow!" Adeline swooned, she twirled her straw around in her drink and gazed at Amara.

Amara sighed, and began an explanation of how Harry was just normal. Adeline seemed adamant that he _couldn't _be, for he was _famous, _so Amara told her that he was brought up by muggles, and didn't know he was a wizard or that he was famous before a year ago.

A while later – after Amara had described her adventures, which they all loved (eventhough Jesse and Noah had already heard them) they decided to head out to do some shopping.

Adeline wanted to get some new dress robes from the Ball Robe shop, for she needed them for next year before 'all the good ones sold out'. She dragged Noah and Alex with her, much to their disdain; she blushed when she saw Jesse looking. Jesse and Adrien rolled their eyes at her.

"Well," said Adrien "Sorry, but my girlfriend - Celeste, iz waving me over; I zink I have to go wiz zem."

He sped off to see a pretty black-headed girl who was waving from her corner booth, where she sat with some of her friends.

"Can you show me around?" Amara asked Jesse, who grinned.

"Of course, _ma belle_, eet would be an 'onour," he looped his arm round hers and together they sauntered out the shop, giggling like little girls.

"So, where do you want to go?" asked Amara as they walked down the sweet French street. There were about as many shops as Diagon Alley, but the shops were more petite.

Jesse looked a little awkward. "Um, zis new bookstore 'as literally just opened and I was wondering if we could go take a look? I mean, if you don't like zat sort of zing zen fine, but-"

"No, its fine," Amara interrupted, grinning "Do you like books then?"

"Like zem? I love zem! Zey're so..." Jesse stopped, for Amara had started laughing. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just that you remind me of my friend, Hermione, she lives in books," said Amara

"She does?" Jesse said excitedly

"Yeah, in fact you'd probably like her," Amara smiled "You could write to her, if you want. She'd like that."

"Sure!" grinned Jesse, turning the corner to see a shop on the corner which was painted so it looked like it was made out of books "But, you ask her first, just in case she doesn't."

They stayed in the bookstore for ages, and came out again when it was nearing an hour. They got some sweets before heading towards the Quidditch Shop. They spent nearly as long in there, ogling at the broomsticks.

"Mama iz getting moi a broom for my birzday," said Jesse "A… um, 'ow do you say it? _Nimbus 2001, _eet iz ze newest model – just released from Eengland zis summer, zey makes better brooms zan ze French."

"You are so lucky," said Amara, jealous "_I _haven't got one, I'm not on the team, see? I might when I'm older, the team hasn't changed yet."

Jesse smiled "You will get a place, sooner or later, I theenk."

"I forget – have you always lived in France?" Amara asked as they walked towards the Robe shop - _Sorcières Robes pour Occasions Magiques _(Witches Robes for Magical Occasions).

"No, no, I waz born in Eengland, but _mon pére_ missed France, so we moved here. I don't really remember, but I would like to move back, France ees not ze greatest place for moi – and I want to get rid of zis accent!" Jesse finished with a laugh.

"Why don't you transfer to Hogwarts?" asked Amara, chewing on her sweet.

"No, my father wants me a Beauxbatons – I do not know his reasons, but I might move when I fineesh, take someone wiz me! Maybe some of mon copains."

They walked into the very posh looking Robe shop, to find Noah and Alex looking very frustrated, and also nearly disappearing under a pile of dresses and dress robes. An assistant was trying to get the load down, but every time she took one away, another one was thrown back on top.

"I can't find _anything!" _a voice belonging to Adeline, screeched behind a curtain. "Noah – _oh! Jesse!_" she had come out and blushed very deeply, which clashed with the shocking pink dress she now had on. She immediately ducked behind Noah.

"'Aving trouble?" asked Jesse in amusement, shaking his head.

"Uh," she stuttered, peeping out "Amara, may you 'elp me?"

Amara smiled and walked up to her.

"I cannot decide – I 'ave a leetle pile of ze dresses I _like, _ze others are wiz Noah and Aleex." She said in despair, still slightly flushed.

"Well, what about a blue?" Amara asked "You haven't got any of them, and they could go with your eyes."

Adeline looked a little hesitant but finally agreed, making the Assistants put back the clothes she had tried on. Noah and Alex looked extremely relieved and immediately clamoured that they needed something from the Quidditch shop, leaving Jesse and Amara to wait for Adeline.

After another hour, they found the 'right' dress. It was blue, much to Adeline's shock, and it was a deep, sky blue colour and it went down to her knees. It had a sweetheart neckline, and the fabric was a shimmery silk that glinted in the light.

"Oh, _zaank you – zaank you! _Oh, my zis is seemply delightful!" squealed Adeline, twirling around, quite gracefully.

"No problem, it looks really nice," said Amara, as they walked to the till. The Pages, it seemed, were not at all poor – the dress, they found, was more than 50 Galleons, but Adeline paid for it straight away.

-OOOOOO-

For the next two weeks of the holiday, Amara had an amazing time. They generally played Quidditch in the back garden (Amara borrowing Louis' broom, and Tessie, Ethan and Tally looking forlornly at the players in the sky) and going to the beach. Amara and her family met a lot of the Reynolds' friends, who were as interested in them as they were of them, for Mr and Mrs Matthews had a lot of questions about how France differed in the Magic range. She was able to write letters to her friends to – Hermione had kept close contact (and with Jesse, who had his own owl, Caesar) and Ron had replied to all her letters, which she was surprised with. The only thing was Harry. He hadn't replied to any of his letters, but Amara bypassed the fact when she realised he couldn't be in trouble – the letters must have gotten lost.

A couple of days into the holidays, it was Jesse's 15th Birthday. He decided to have a house party, so they opened the French Doors and let the sun stream inside, as well as putting up a marquee for some shade. A lot of his friends came over – some speaking only French, and some able to speak fluent English (Jesse admitted that some students could not be bothered to learn English, for they decided they wouldn't ever use it and wanted to focus on other things) so Amara stuck with them. It was a very nice day, they were able to drink cool lemonade in the sun and laze around.

When there was only one week left, the entire household went out for and evening meal at a very nice restaurant. The Menu was completely in French, and Amara had trouble deciphering it.

"Noah, what does that say?" she asked

"Snails," he said.

"What?" Amara glowered at him, for it seemed he liked to things Fred and George liked to do.

"Snails," repeated Noah "You _eat _zem."

"What else is there?"

"Frog's legs?"

"What is wrong with you? Do you like _slimy _creatures or something?" Amara demanded.

Noah smirked "I bet _you _couldn't eat zem."

Amara narrowed her eyes. "Bet I could."

"Dare you?"

"Deal."

When Amara's meal came out (Jesse, Tally and Louis had snorted when she had ordered) she wondered why she had chosen it. Her imagination made the dish look ten times worse.

As everyone else was tucking in, Noah glanced at Amara.

"Please, you can eat."

Amara frowned and cut a bit of the frog's legs off. She slowly moved it to her mouth, gulping. She popped it in quickly. She chewed and grinned.

"It's like chicken and fish," she said, Noah looked annoyed, but pleased. "Are the snails nice?"

"Not really," he said "I don't like zem particularly much, Jesse can eeat zem zough."

Amara tried the snails, but gagged.

The frog's legs were much nicer.


	2. Amara's Worry

**_a/n so here's another chapter - I've decided to update every Friday (hopefully) and maybe on Mondays as well, but we'll see how it goes, eh? R&R!:)_**

**_Chapter Two_**

**_Amara's Worry_**

All in all, Amara was sad to leave France, she wouldn't see the Reynolds again for ages, and there was no way to contact Harry or Ron, for Amara did not have an owl. She decided that when she visited Diagon Alley for her new books, she'd buy one, so that contact would be easier. She was able to contact Hermione, because she was able to ring her on the phone. Jesse promised he would keep in touch when he went back to Beauxbatons, as he said he didn't have anyone except his parents to write too, and because his grandparents on his father's side (who were magical) didn't like Owls flying everywhere and making a mess on things and his other cousin went to Beauxbatons too, in a different house, but very annoying and stuck up. Amara sniggered at this, for she had met this cousin only once, and he was rather irritating. He swore that he could not speak a word of English the entire time Amara was there, but she had heard him talk to his mother in English in the kitchen. Tally said she'd keep in touch too, telling her how her first-year at Beauxbatons was like.

They said Goodbye to the Reynolds at their house, for there wasn't enough room in the car for all of them to fit. Amara hugged them all before leaving for their journey.

"Keep in touch," she said "You too Noah!"

Noah just grinned and gave a little salute. Amara rolled her eyes and hugged Tally again.

"Au revoir, Amara!"

"Bye!"

Louis drove them to the airport, Amara couldn't believe it had been three weeks already, she had enjoyed her holiday much more than she thought she would. Even Adeline said she'd write (occasionally) and send a picture of them all at the Ball she brought the dress for. Amara couldn't wait to see Hermione again though, so she had something to look forward to when she got back home.

They said goodbye to Louis at the airport, they got through all the customs before sinking into the seats, waiting for their flight again. Amara smiled as she realised it was the same as when they had come – Tessie, on Mr Matthew's Game Boy, Amara bored and Ethan, lying over two seats, but this time trying to snatch the Game Boy off of Tessie so he could play it himself.

The flight seemed quick, Amara looked out the window for most of the journey, she saw the whole of France and the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight before landing in the airport.

-OOOOO-

Amara peered out the window expectantly. She had been excited the entire week she'd been home for this day. For the past two hours, she had been bouncing back and forth to the window, just to check if a car was coming up the drive.

"Amara, please stop bouncing like a ball, she isn't due to come for another hour yet," snapped Mrs Matthews from the sofa.

"Sorry mum," she chirped, before glancing out the window. "What time is it?"

Her mum sighed "Eleven thirty," she said.

Suddenly, Tessie shouted from the kitchen. "AMARA, an owl is here! Oh wait – I think it is dead…"

"What?" yelped Amara, running into the kitchen. There was indeed a dead-looking owl on the draining board. Tessie was prodding it with her crayon, but it seemed to still be breathing. A letter was tied to its leg, and Amara noticed Ron's scribbly scrawl on it. She stood the owl up on the draining board and gave it some water from a dish. It seemed to cheer up and was able to stand without flopping over again. She eagerly ripped the letter open.

_Amara – _

_Have you heard from Harry yet? I've asked him to stay about twelve times, but he hasn't replied to any of them. I haven't asked Hermione yet – isn't she staying at yours? It's weird that Harry's not answering, he has Hedwig and the Muggles he stays with aren't exactly friendly people. Do you think something has happened? I'm going to write to him again when Errol gets back – sorry about him, he's ancient, he'll probably need some water. If he doesn't reply, I'll ask Dad._

_From Ron_

Amara frowned. She still hadn't gotten a reply form Harry either, it was really starting to worry her. She ran upstairs to her desk (grabbing Errol the owl too) and started to write her letter.

_Dear Ron_

_I haven't had a word from Harry either, and by the looks of it, neither has Hermione. Write to him again before making rash decisions, but if he doesn't, write to us straight away, Hermione is staying at mine until the 9__th__, hopefully Harry has replied by then._

_Love from _

_Amara_

She sealed the envelope and tied it to Errol's leg.

"You OK to fly?" she asked and he gave a hoot. Taking this as a good sign, she opened the window and let him out, watching him fly away. She looked down momentarily and saw a silver car driving up the drive. She grinned as she saw a blob of curly brown hair in the front passenger seat.

She ran down stairs like a torpedo, knocking into her dad as she did so.

"Sorry," she babbled as he laughed, and then took off once more.

She flung open the door as Hermione was getting out; she flew out the front door and gave her a hug.

"Hermione!" she said happily "It's been _ages!"_

Hermione smiled "Hello, I just saw an owl fly out the window; I'm assuming it was from you?"

"Yup," she said as they walked inside, and greeted Dr Granger, who had driven Hermione up. "It was from Ron, he's had no word from Harry, it is quite worrying."

"Hello Hermione," Mrs Matthews greeted Hermione warmly "And you Dr Granger, it's nice to see you again."

"You to, Mrs Matt- Bryony," said Hermione

She smiled "Would you like anything?"

"I better be going," said Dr Granger "Leave you ladies to it, goodbye, Hermione, Amara."

After he had left, Amara helped Hermione take her suitcase up the stairs.

"Gee, Hermione you're only staying for a week, not a year," Amara panted, as they paused on the landing.

"Oh, I added some books – I've been busy with school work,"

"_What?" _Amara gapped "Why, it's the holidays!"

"I know, but we have to keep up – you have done some, haven't you?" she demanded.

"Er, I've been away? Come on Hermione, we have school to learn things, we need a break."

Hermione tutted "Hmf, well, anyway, you should read the book I got – Hogwarts: A History, it's really rather interesting, you know."

Amara rolled her eyes discreetly "Fine," she sighed "But _only _that, OK?"

Hermione nodded happily.

-OOOOOO-

A few days after Hermione's arrival, the two of them were sat in the kitchen eating a sandwich when Errol zoomed in and whacked into the wall.

Mrs Matthews shrieked, as the arrival was unexpected.

"Calm down Mum – hey, it's another letter from Ron… oh dear, the Errol doesn't look too good, does he?"

"Let me take him," Mrs Matthews said, obviously recovering and releasing her fondness for animals "I'll see to him," and she walked out the room, with Errol laid carefully in her hands.

"What does the letter say?" asked Hermione, swallowing her sandwich.

"_Amara and Hermione -_

_We can't let this go on much longer; Fred, George and I are rescuing him from the Muggles tonight. We heard from Dad he got a warning from the Ministry about using magic. Don't worry; we're going to be fine, we'll take him back to the Burrow, hopefully we'll find out how he didn't reply or get our letters._

_Wish us luck – Ron"_

"I hope they don't do anything dangerous," said Hermione worriedly as Amara finished her own sandwich. "And what's this about using _magic? _He knows we get in trouble!"

"Nah," said Amara thickly, trying to swallow, Hermione looked slightly repulsed. "They'll be fine; as long as Harry's safe at the Burrow – I'm assuming that's their house, cool name – I'll be fine. I wouldn't tell the Dursley's, by the looks of them, good way to scare them, don't you think?"

Hermione didn't look overly convinced.

Mrs Matthews came back in. "That Owl needs recovery, it's been knocked unconscious, poor thing, you'll have to send your letter back tomorrow."

The next day, at breakfast, their school lists arrived, and they opened them eagerly. The owls that had delivered them didn't crash into the wall; instead, they flew expertly through the open window, landing lightly on the wooden table. They stuck their legs out simultaneously before they ruffled their feathers importantly and flew off, as though they were superior to all the other owls.

Amara ripped open her letter with gusto, tearing the parchment slightly.

'Second year students will require:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2) _by Miranda Goshawk

_Break with a Banshee _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Gadding with Ghouls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Holidays with Hags _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Travels with Trolls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Voyages with Vampires _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Wanderings with Werewolves _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Year with the Yeti _by Gilderoy Lockhart'

"Who's Gilderoy Lockhart? The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan, how many books could this guy write?"

Hermione squealed "I've heard a little about him, he's really amazing in what he does, he's saved people from all these deadly creatures – I've always wanted his books, but I didn't have enough." She was pink in the face and looked excited.

Amara choked a little on her toast. "Ah, I wonder if Harry and Ron have got their letters? I really want to know the new teacher…"

"I don't know, when d'you think we'll go? We can ask Harry and Ron to come too!" said Hermione.

"Well, David and I can take Amara next Wednesday, if you like," said Mrs Matthews

"I think my Mum and Dad can take me," Hermione smiled.

"Shall we go write back?" Amara asked, finishing her apple juice.

Errol had woken back up and they were able to write a letter back.

"Do you think Harry is there yet?" asked Hermione as they sat at Amara's desk.

"It depends whether Errol took ages getting here," Amara said, setting her ink and quill out.

_Dear Ron and Harry, if you're there,_

_We hope you got Harry out safely and everyone's OK, because Hermione says that if you did anything illegal, Harry will get into trouble too, and that's not fair. We've been really worried and if Harry's alright, can you please let us know at once, but you really need to use a different owl, because Errol got knocked out whilst delivering your last letter, and had to have a day to wake up. Hermione somehow is doing schoolwork, but that's just weird, right?_

_Hermione and I got our school lists this morning, and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy the new books (Hermione says Lockhart's great, I have no clue who he is, he sounds irritating already to me) Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Outside Gringotts, everyone needs to go in there._

_Love from _

_Amara and Hermione _

Amara tied the letter to Errol's leg and took him to the window.

"Have a safe journey," Amara said, a little doubtfully. Errol hooted and took off, nearly hitting into a lamppost as a neighbour gasped at the sight of him. Amara shut the window quickly – her mother had told her the neighbours thought that an owl's nest or something had got into the estate, and she had encouraged the idea – the neighbours loved gossip. Especially their closest neighbour, Mrs Sutton, who was a widower and didn't have anything to do. Amara swore she had ears the size of Dumbo's with what she gossiped.

Amara and Hermione went for a walk before lunch, around Winchester where Amara lived, to see the shops. They walked around, looking inside, until Hermione dragged her to the Cathedral to see the history. Amara grumbled most of the way, muttering about 'having to see it' again and 'we have enough in History of Magic'.

"You need to listen in that lesson," Hermione said as they walked back after an hour of browsing. "You were lucky last year that I leant the notes to you. And this is _muggle _History, not History of Magic, so you should read it!"

"Oh c'mon, Hermione," Amara said "It's the worst subject _ever, _I would be more interested if we just read textbooks, at least then we'd get the information."

"He's not that ba-," Hermione began

"Have you _listened _to Binns? He has the most monotone voice, it's unreal," Amara interrupted. "And anyways, I know a lot about the muggle world already, I think I'll focus on the wizarding world now, for there seems to be a hell of lot going on _there." _

By the time they had got back, Mrs Matthews had finished making lunch.

Tessie and Ethan were already in the kitchen, slurping up the soup and ripping off hunks of bread. Amara grabbed a bowel and bread herself before tucking in, Hermione much more politely tucking in.

"Amara, eat nicer," said Mrs Matthews.

"Wha? I'm hung'y!" Amara struggled, swallowing the bread in a gulp.

"You're turning into Ron," Hermione grinned and Amara laughed, but took heed and started eating nicer.

Hermione left a few days after and Amara was alone in the muggle world again. She didn't mind that much; she went to the cinema with her family and went to different places. The excitement still hadn't worn off for Tessie and Ethan, and she hoped that they would get their letters too, some day. It would be sad if they didn't get a letter, as they had heard all the stories Amara had told them of her adventures in her first year. They were expecting to have more or less the same amount of fun. It seemed Tessie was still as jumpy as she had the first day Amara found out she was a witch, but this probably because she still had three years until she would find out, but Ethan would find out next year, in the summer before Amara's third-year. Louis said it was more than likely that they were, because a lot of kids in Beauxbatons had a muggleborn sibling too.

She had also, a few days after Hermione left, got a reply from Ron. She was pleased to know that Harry had finally escaped the Dursleys.

_Amara_

_Harry's here now, we used Dad's car to get him out, it flies, by the way, but don't tell Hermione, because she'll explode. How can she do _schoolwork_? We're on holiday! Mum says Wednesday is fine to get our books, Fred says the new Professor must be a witch, because apparently everyone loves him._

_I can't use Hermes, because Percy 'needs' him for some reason, don't know who _he _is writing to, probably someone boring, so I have to use Errol, he's alright, really, gets the job done._

_From Ron and Harry_

Amara grinned at the letter. It was great to know that Harry was safe – even though it wasn't the greatest way to get him out. Amara thought flying a car would be pretty cool to do, unless you hit an aeroplane in the process.


	3. At Flourish and Blotts

**_Chapter Three_**

**_At Flourish and Blotts_**

Amara got up earlier than usual the next Wednesday, she got dressed and ate her breakfast quickly, Tessie and Ethan trying to beg their father into taking them too.

"No, you went last year, you'd just be bored," said Mr Matthews

"You wouldn't be able to do anything there anyways," said Amara, but they didn't stop badgering until Amara was in the car. They had decided to meet Hermione and her family in the Leaky Cauldron before heading off to Gringotts to wait for the Weasley's and Harry.

The journey was unusually busy for a Wednesday, there was quite a lot of traffic and took them a good half an hour longer than it should have done. It was only Amara and her father going this time, for Mrs Matthews needed to look after Tessie and Ethan at home.

They parked and headed towards the entrance, Mr Matthews shaking his head as they neared it, for he was still baffled as last year when they had come for the first time.

Tom was behind the counter as usual, wiping a glass with a tea towel. Groups of people were crowded around tables, smoke lingering in the air from the old hag like woman in the corner, who was glaring at everyone. One wizard was re-heating his tea with his wand, for he had gotten distracted with the _Daily Prophet. _Mr Matthews stared as a jet of hot steam shot out of the end of the wand, making the tea steam at once. Amara spotted Hermione in the corner booth with Mr and Mrs Granger, who were looking rather perplexed at the goings on around them.

"Hey Hermione – Mr and Mrs Granger."

"Hello Amara, dear, shall we get going then? We don't want to be late for the Weasley's."

Amara nodded and headed towards the door towards the walled courtyard at the back. There were a few more dustbins than there were before, and a cat perched on top of them.

Amara retrieved her wand from her pocket and counted the bricks on the wall. With some help from Hermione, she managed to make the wall turn into an archway.

Amara turned to see the three adults shake their heads in wonder. She turned to Hermione and grinned, before heading off towards Gringotts. Amara made her dad stay with her all the way, for it seemed he was prone to go wondering off to see the amazing sights. She clutched his elbow to drag him through the crowds who were jostled outside Flourish and Blotts. They went up the stone steps and into Gringotts, where they made the adults exchange some money.

"We'll go see if Ron and Harry are here," said Hermione, grabbing Amara's arm and pulling her out.

They stood on the top of the steps for about five minutes before Hermione called out.

"Harry! Harry! Over here!"

They ran down the steps, Amara grinning at the sight of Harry, and weirdly, Hagrid.

"Heya Harry," said Amara, giving him a hug. She noticed that his glasses were broken and that he seemed to be covered in soot. She guessed he used Floo powder.

"What happened to your glasses?" Hermione demanded "Hello Hagrid … oh it's _wonderful _to see you two again … are you coming into Gringotts, Harry?"

"As soon as I've found the Weasleys," said Harry

"Yeh won't have long ter wait," grinned Hagrid, looking behind them.

Amara, Harry and Hermione looked around; sprinting up the crowded cobbled street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr Weasley.

"Harry," Mr Weasley panted. "We _hoped_ you'd only gone one grate too far..." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly's frantic – she's coming now."

"Where did you come out?" Ron asked.

"Knockturn Alley," said Hagrid grimly.

"_Brilliant!_" said Fred and George together.

"We've never been allowed in," said Ron enviously.

"I should ruddy well think not," growled Hagrid.

"What's Knockturn Alley?" Amara asked them.

"Dodge part of Diagon Alley, lots of Dark Artefacts," said Mr Weasley

Amara then saw Mrs Weasley running up to them too, her handbag and Ginny swinging on each arm.

"Oh, Harry – oh, my dear – you could have been anywhere –" she gasped.

She swept all of the soot off of Harry with a clothes brush from her bag. Mr Weasley tapped Harry's glasses and returned them, without a single scratch.

"Well, gotta be off," said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found him, Hagrid!") "See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked Amara, Ron and Hermione as they climbed back up the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr Weasley sharply behind them.

"No, he was selling."

"So he's worried," said Mr Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something..."

"You be careful, Arthur," said Mrs Weasley sharply as they were ushered into the bank by a bowing goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew."

"So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Amara's dad and Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Amara and Hermione to introduce them.

"This is my dad," Amara said, running up to him, and Hermione introduced her parents too.

"But you're _Muggles_!" said Mr Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten pound notes in Mr Granger's hand. Amara laughed.

"Meet you back here," Ron said to her and Hermione as the Weasleys and Harry were led off to their underground vaults by another Gringotts goblin.

Amara and Hermione went up and helped their parents exchange the right amount of money for what they needed. Amara got her dad to let her get an owl, for he was intrigued with them, and the Lockhart books were not going to be cheap. They waited another five minutes before Harry and the Weasley's came back, Harry looking very guilty as he held a packed money bag.

They all separated once they got outside. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Mrs Weasley and Ginny were going to a second-hand robe shop, for Ginny was going to start Hogwarts in September. Mr Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers and Mr Matthews off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

Mr Matthews looked unsure about this, for he hadn't had a Wizard drink before.

"It's OK Dad, Mr Weasley will look after you, you can ask questions about the wizarding world, I expect he can explain them much better than me," said Amara, smiling.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your school books," said Mrs Weasley, setting off with Ginny, who seemed to be looking everywhere but Harry. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs.

Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione wandered off too, looking down the cobbled street. Amara was very happy to have Ron and Harry there too, as she hadn't seen them all summer. Harry bought them all large strawberry and peanut-butter ice creams, and Amara happily slurped hers as they strolled along. They looked at all the shop windows as they passed, and Ron looked longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the window of the Quidditch shop, _Quality Quidditch Supplies. _Hermione dragged them away to get parchment and ink from the shop next door. In 'Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they predictably saw Fred and George, with their friend Lee Jordan, who were buying Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. They found Percy reading a very dull and boring book in the junk shop, which Ron said something sarcastically, to which Percy told them to all go away. Amara sniggered as they walked out.

"Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out … he wants to be Minister of Magic …" Ron told them as they left.

"Why didn't you answer our letters then Harry? Ron said they got you out by a flying car –"

"_What?" _Hermione stuttered, but Amara carried on

"So, what happened?"

"Well, the Dursley's locked all my stuff away – even Hedwig, so I couldn't send any letters, and then Dobby the House Elf –"

"A House Elf? I think I've heard of those, aren't they like servants for wizard houses?" asked Amara

Ron and Harry nodded "He came to visit me, he told me not to go back to Hogwarts, said something bad is going to happen, and _then _I found out he stopped my letters. Well, he made this cake land on Uncle Vernon's visitors so they left and he put bars on my window. I probably would have stayed in there all summer if Ron, Fred and George hadn't come and got me."

"Wow," said Amara as they walked

"Mum and Dad would've got you," said Ron as they passed even more shops.

They went to Eeylops Owl Emporium to buy Amara's owl. She looked around whilst Harry bought some Owl Treats for Hedwig and decided to buy a handsome, brown owl that she decided to call Archimedes, after the Sword and the Stone. She got him a nice cage and some treats too.

After about an hour, they went to Flourish and Blotts, to meet the Weasleys. Weirdly, there was a large crowd gathered around the doors, jostling around and hoping to get in. Amara was about to wonder out loud when she saw a large banner that told them why the crowd was there.

_GIDEROY LOCKHART_

_will be signing copies of his autobiography_

MAGICAL ME

_today 12.30 – 4.30_

"We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!" Amara nodded and tried to move forwards.

The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs Weasley's age. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies... Don't push, there... mind the books, now... "

Amara, Harry, Ron, and Hermione somehow squeezed inside, ahead of the witches trying to get in. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of _Break with a Banshee_ and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with the Grangers and Amara's father.

"Hello Amara, did you have a nice time – oh, is that your owl?" asked Mr Matthews, who looked very happy after his drink with Mr Weasley. He took Archimedes cage and looked at him.

"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute..."

Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair. Amara thought he looked very vain and only cared for his fame and appearance. Hermione, though, obviously didn't, for she kept bouncing on her feet.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.

"Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet."_

"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.

Amara saw that Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

Amara huffed.

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face burned as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the rest of them. Amara coughed at the smoke and wafted it away with her hand.

Harry tried to wriggle free of Lockhart, but Lockhart clasped him to his side very tightly. Harry's face was one of discomfort, and Amara tried not to giggle. Lockhart seemed to be about to speak, so the crowd became quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly,. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography -which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge-" The crowd applauded again whilst Amara groaned, for Harry was pretty lucky. "He had _no idea_," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me_. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry was presented with Lockhart's entire collection of books. Amara saw him tip them into Ginny's new cauldron. She, Ron and Hermione went over the display and got all the books they needed. They saw an unpleasant sight however, for Draco Malfoy was standing next to Harry and Ginny, and by the looks of things, had said something that made Ginny go red.

They fought their way through the crowds, pushing people away with their books.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, looking at Malfoy as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went as red as Ginny was. He dropped his books into the cauldron, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket. Amara growled at Malfoy.

"Leave him _alone_!" she snapped.

"Ron!" said Mr Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing?

It's too crowded in here, let's go outside." Mr Matthews came over too, standing near Amara.

"Well, well, well-Arthur Weasley."

Amara saw a man who resembled Malfoy giving Mr Weasley a sneer. Amara knew that this was Malfoy's father.

"Lucius," said Mr Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Lucius Malfoy. "All those raids... I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration._

"Obviously not," Mr Malfoy said, smirking. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr Weasley flushed as Mr Matthews looked very confused.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he said.

"Clearly," said Mr Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr Matthews and Mr and Mrs Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley... and I thought your family could sink no lower-"

There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr Weasley had thrown himself at Mr Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. Dozens of heavy spell books came thundering down on all their heads.

"Get him, Dad!" yelled Fred and George whilst Mrs Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!"

The crowd of people ran backwards, more shelves tumbling to the floor, and assistant trying to break them up. Amara was cheering for Mr Weasley, whilst Malfoy was glaring at her.

Hagrid waded over then, and pulled Mr Malfoy and Mr Weasley apart. Mr Weasley had a cut lip and Mr Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an _Encyclopedia of Toadstools_. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.

"Here, girl-take your book-it's the best your father can give you-" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.

"Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur," said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that – no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter – bad blood, that's what it is – come on now – let's get outta here."

The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers and Amara's father shaking with fright and Mrs Weasley beside herself with fury.

"A fine example to set for your children... brawling in public... what Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought..."

"He was pleased," said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the Daily Prophet if he'd be able to work the fight into his report – said it was all publicity-"

Amara glanced at her father.

"It's OK," she said quietly "Some people are just evil." He nodded, still looking wary.

It was a subdued group that headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, the Weasleys, and all their shopping would be traveling back to the Burrow using Floo powder. They said goodbye to the Amara, her father and Grangers there, before they left through the Muggle way. Mr Weasley started to ask them how bus stops worked, but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs Weasley's face.

Amara gave Hermione a hug before leaving to get the car with her father. He was still holding Archimedes and was being given some extremely strange looks from passers-by.

"What was _that _about?" he asked her as they got in the car.

Amara sighed and explained to him about the blood-maniacs in the Wizarding World.

"But its fine," she said "Only a few people believe in it now – the Weasleys, they're Pure-blood through and through, but they don't believe in being higher up than Hermione and me."

Mr Matthews nodded "I think it's best _not _to tell your mother of the fight – but that Gilderoy Lockhart wizard, is he always that … that – _flouncy?" _

Amara laughed "I don't know, but I'll soon find out, how was your drink with Mr Weasley?"

"Oh it was great," he smiled "He asked a lot of questions about me and Amelia and Daniel, but I did get answers too."

Amara grinned as she turned to give Archimedes some treats. He looked at her and ruffled his feathers importantly, nipping her finger affectionately. She was glad that Harry was at the Weasley's and that she had bought her owl, now she could communicate with her family and friends more.

Archimedes seemed to be very content being taken home – even when Tessie and Ethan jostled around his cage, asking if they could stroke and hold him. He seemed to be attached to Mrs Matthews; she cared for him dotingly, and always gave him a treat.

Amara told her not to give him too many, or else he'd get fat.


	4. The Train Ride

**_a/n sorry I was going to post this earlier today, but we changed Internet providers, so i didn't have any. _**

**_Chapter Four_**

**_The Train Ride_**

The summer ended rather quickly after that, Amara had read and re-read her Lockhart books numerous times, and found them actually quite interesting. She was doubtful that all what he said was true – for he didn't seem very old and to have done all that before now seemed highly unlikely. Nevertheless, she was interested to see how he was going teach Defence Against the Dark Arts, and hoped it would be better than last year.

Amara woke up early on September the first, for Mr Matthews had to take her in before going to work in London. They had planned to meet Hermione outside Kings Cross at half past ten, so they would have plenty of time to get a good compartment.

Amara ate her bacon sandwiches with Tessie looking tearfully at her, as though she'd never see her again.

"Are you coming home at Christmas?" asked Tessie

"I don't know," said Amara "It depends on what Harry, Ron and Hermione are doing."

Tessie looked forlorn.

"Sorry Tessie, it'll be your turn soon," she said, hoping it was true.

"Three years," muttered Tessie "And I bet Ethan's one, _he'll _get to go next year."

Amara sighed and shook her head.

Mr Matthews dropped Amara, her trunk and Archimedes outside Kings Cross at half past ten exactly, but was worried because he didn't want to leave Amara alone as he was nearly late for work.

"Don't _worry _Dad – look! There's Hermione now!"

Hermione was pushing her trunk on a trolley, coming towards them.

Once Mr Matthews was satisfied, and the Grangers said goodbye, Amara and Hermione went to the barrier between 9 and 10. They leant casually on it, having a conversation so that the Muggles did not see them. They fell through and onto the crowded Platform 9 and ¾, where the Hogwarts Express was nearly ready to go.

Amara and Hermione managed to grab an empty compartment in the middle of the train. They looked out the window to see the Weasleys. It was nearing eleven o'clock before Amara suddenly pointed.

"Look! There they are! The Weasleys!" she said happily, before her smile dropped "But, there's only – Fred, George, Ginny – wait, where's Harry and Ron?"

Harry and Ron did not seem to be on board, and by the looks of things Mr and Mrs Weasley did not know where they were. They kept glancing at the barrier and the clock, but it was too late when the clock struck eleven – Harry and Ron had missed the train.

"I wonder where they are," said Amara worriedly as they pulled out of the station.

"They can't have gone far, I mean, they couldn't have got stuck or anything," said Hermione

"What happens if you miss the train?" asked Amara

"I'm not sure, maybe you would get there somehow,"

The compartment door slid open. It was Ginny, looking for a place to sit.

"Can I sit here? I don't want to sit with Fred and George, they keep teasing me," she said, flushing slightly.

"Sure," said Amara with a grin. She hadn't really spoken to Ginny before and she wanted to get to know the youngest Weasley.

"Do you know where Harry and Ron are?" asked Hermione as Ginny sat down.

She shook her head. "No, they were behind us on the platform, ready to come through, but they never did, Mum was really worried."

Amara nodded "Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?"

The conversation continued for most of the journey, Hermione retreated behind _Voyages with Vampires _whilst Ginny and Amara talked. She bought some sweets and cakes from the food trolley, she shared them with Ginny too.

Amara found she liked Ginny a lot, once she wasn't embarrassed by Harry's presence; she was actually very funny and talkative. She opened up to Amara about her worries about not being sorted into Gryffindor and that she had wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since she could remember.

The journey went by quite quickly, some parts they just sat in silence. Before they got to the station, they pulled on their robes and Hermione put her book away. Amara checked if Archimedes was alright before leaving the train. They guided Ginny up to Hagrid before joining the swarm of students that went towards the carriages that lead up to the school. Amara looked back and saw Ginny disappearing with the rest of the frightened-looking first-years. She followed Hermione towards an empty carriage that was waiting for them.

Once there Amara saw black, skeletal looking horses with wings pulling them, she thought they looked oddly beautiful with their features. She wondered why nobody else, like Hermione was commenting on them. She wanted to point them out to Hermione, but there wasn't any time, for they met up with Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom, fellow Gryffindors, on their way up to a carriage. She decided to research them once she got the chance.

"Hey Amara – Hermione, had a nice holiday?" asked Dean as they went inside the carriage. It smelt of old straw and the roof looked like it could open in nice weather. They were black, with little lamps attached to the front. Amara could see the horse-like creatures out of the window, from waiting carriages next to them. The skeletal horse immediately moved off, following the little stream of lights from the other carriages up the rocky path. They went all the way round the school and through the gates flanked with winged boars. They chatted about their summers on the way, and discussed how Harry and Ron would get to Hogwarts, after they told them that they had missed the train.

"_I've _never heard of anyone missing the train before – not even Fergus, me cousin, who is not that good at being on time." said Seamus.

"I dunno," said Neville "Maybe they'll send a letter or something,"

They walked out of the carriages and up to the double doors. A stream of chattering students surrounded them, making the move easily. Once inside the Great Hall, Amara immediately scanned the Gryffindor table to see if Harry or Ron was there. As they sat down, they were joined by the three other boys, and Sophie Roper, a very shy girl in their dormitory, who liked to hang around her friends in Hufflepuff and her sister in the year above.

Amara was starting to get hungry, but she kept glancing at the doors to check if Harry and Ron had arrived yet. Professor McGonagall arrived with the first-years and Hermione nudged her.

"Snape's not at the table," she hissed as the Sorting Hat finished its song and McGonagall started calling out names.

"Adams Joseph!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

A few more names were called out whilst Amara glanced at the door.

"Creevey Colin!" said Professor McGonagall. A tiny boy with blonde hair ran forward, nearly tripping on the way, before jamming it on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Amara clapped as the first Gryffindor sat down on their table. Colin looked so excited he looked ready to burst.

The line of first-years dwindled down – more Gryffindors were sorted, and then it was Ginny's turn. Amara was annoyed that Ron wasn't there to see her being sorted, because Fred and George had suddenly paid more attention from their places down the table.

Ginny's red hair was visible until the hat fell onto her head. It didn't take very long, only a few seconds after, she was sorted into Gryffindor, and she happily went and sat with other first-years.

Amara looked at her plate and waited for the food to come, when it did, she stuck in straight away.

Hermione, looking quite disgusted, poked her, and said "Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall have left too."

Amara gulped her food down and had a drink. "What? D'you think it is Harry and Ron? I wonder what _they _did. Its ridiculous, school hasn't started yet!"

They tried to finish their dinner quickly then, and once the desert had gone, it seemed Dumbledore and McGonagall had returned, along with a very angry looking Snape. He kept glaring in their direction, too, so Amara looked away.

After Dumbledore's speech, they followed the crowd out of the Great Hall. A lot of people were murmuring about something, and Amara and Hermione caught snippets of the conversations.

"Yeah, that's what I heard –"

"– Harry Potter and Ron Weasley – they _flew a car _here!"

"_I _heard they were expelled – imagine!"

"A _car? _A flying _car? _You _have _to be joking!"

"- I wish I was there – but I heard they crashed somewhere…"

Amara stared at Hermione.

"They better turn up soon," said Hermione "We have to know what happened!" Amara nodded, worried about the rumours.

"Damn, I need the loo, shall we get the password?" asked Amara

"Yeah, OK,"

Percy was up ahead, ushering some first-years up a staircase.

"Hey! HEY! Percy!" Amara called over the crowd. She caught up with him.

"Yes?" Percy asked cautiously, and Amara was aware that this was the first proper conversation she'd ever had with him.

"I need the password for the tower, please," said Amara.

"Oh, it's 'wattlebird' – but don't be out after curfew!" he warned.

Amara grinned and decided to go with Hermione to the first-floor toilet, which she knew was there, but had never used.

She stood outside the door, glancing at the 'Out of Order' sign. She huffed.

"I'm only going to be quick – it's not as though there's a troll in there," she said and began to push the door open. Hermione stopped her.

"Don't go in there! It's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." She said, as if that was the answer to everything.

"Who?"

"The ghost – Moaning Myrtle, she haunts the toilet, she's always crying, apparently, I ran into her when I needed to go to the loo quick last year."

Amara laughed "She can't be that bad – you can wait out here, if you want."

Amara went inside; she knew why it was out of order, as it wasn't in the best condition. She went to the toilet and came back out, washing her hands at the sink.

"What are you doing?"

Amara stifled a scream as she shot around.

"_Merlin!"_ she stammered, a phrase she learnt from Ron. "You made me jump!"

It was a ghost, floating miserably in the air. She had thick hair and glasses and with a permanent glum expression.

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all "It is out of order you know, this is my bathroom."

Amara nodded, still wary, for she looked like she was going to cry and was still creeped out by her sudden appearance.

"Yeah, sorry, I just needed the loo," Amara said, edging away "I'll go now!" she ran out of the door, hearing Myrtle sniff behind her.

"I told you," said Hermione as they set off down the corridor, after seeing Amara's face. They walked in silence the entire way, and only spoke again when they saw Harry and Ron standing outside the portrait hole.

"_Harry! Ron!_" cried Amara, running forwards "Where the hell _were _you?"

"There have been the most _ridiculous _rumours – someone said you've been _expelled _for crashing a flying _car!" _Hermione exclaimed.

"Did you use the same car to pick Harry up?" Amara asked and Ron nodded.

"We haven't been expelled," said Harry

"You mean you _did _fly here?" Hermione said, very severely.

"Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently "And tell us the new password."

"It's wattlebird," said Amara and Hermione cut her off.

"But that's not the point –"

The portrait door opening officially cut her off as a roar of applause came through. It seemed that the whole of Gryffindor had waited up to see Harry and Ron arrive, for it was the packed as it had ever been. Every armchair, table and chair was filled – people were standing on the tables to get a better view. Arms reached out and grabbed the two bemused boys whilst Amara hurried in after them.

"Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years –"

Amara grinned as more people congratulated them. She shouldn't really enjoy it – especially with the glare Hermione sent her way – but it was great excitement for the start of the year. Amara wished (sort of) that she was in the car too, it must've been exciting.

Fred and George came over too "Why couldn't you've called us back, eh?" they said together.

Amara looked over the crowd as best as she could with her height, and saw Percy looking very annoyed and looked as though he wanted to yell at Ron and Harry. Harry seemed to notice it too, for not a second later, they told everyone they were going to bed. After a quick goodnight to the girls, they disappeared up the dormitory – just as Percy reached Amara and Hermione.

"Gotta go!" she said quickly, rushing off, grabbing Hermione in the process.

They went up the spiral staircase to their dormitory, which now had a sign saying 'Second-Years'. Amara entered and saw that only Sophie was there, unpacking her trunk a little bit.

"Hello," she said "It was rather loud downstairs."

Amara nodded as Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, the two other girls, came into their room.

"Amara! Hermione!" they squealed "Did you hear about Harry and Ron?"

"Yes," Hermione sniffed.

"I can't believe they flew," piped up Sophie, pulling her covers up to her chin, her golden hair framing her face like a halo.

Amara nodded before getting ready for bed, now too tired to talk.

"Night Hermione," she said "Goodnight!" she said a bit louder so everyone could hear. Lavender, Parvati and Sophie murmured their replies.

"Goodnight," Hermione said rather stiffly, Amara knew it was because of her 'approving' of Harry and Ron's adventure.

Amara snuggled down in her bed, glad to be back at Hogwarts. It felt like a second home now, and she hadn't realized how much she had actually missed the castle. She decided to ask Harry and Ron how exactly they managed to think of _flying _to Hogwarts the next day.


	5. Gilderoy Lockhart

**_Chapter Five_**

**_Gilderoy Lockhart_**

Amara and Hermione got to the Gryffindor table before Harry and Ron the next day. The four tables were laden with food as always and Amara helped herself to some bacon and eggs and tea. Hermione, still a little cold, huffed and put _Voyages with Vampires _up against the milk jug so she could read it. The ceiling showed a dull, cloudy mass of grey today, which put a damper on everyone's mood.

"Haven't you already read that one?" asked Amara

Hermione nodded.

Luckily, Harry and Ron flopped down next to her thirty seconds afterwards. Harry sat next to Hermione whilst Ron flopped into the spare seat next to Amara.

Amara smiled at them "Morning," she said chirpily, whilst Hermione only muttered it. Neville came down too, greeting them just as cheerfully as Amara.

"Post's due any minute," he told them "I think Gran's sending on a few things I forgot."

Amara laughed lightly, remembering that Neville had a very bad memory (except in Herbology) and was also very clumsy.

The owls flew into the Hall just then, Amara didn't receive anything, not that she had expected too, for Archimedes was in the Owlery, and she hadn't sent any letters yet.

A big, lumpy parcel bounced off Neville's head, whilst not a second later, something large and grey fell into the milk jug Hermione was using, spraying milk and feathers onto their robes.

"_Errol!" _Ron said, pulling out the bedraggled owl out of the jug by its feet. Errol, slumped over unconscious onto the table, with his legs stuck up in the air and the red envelope clasped in his beak, still dripping with milk.

"Oh no –" gasped Ron

Hermione prodded the owl with her finger. "It's alright, he's still alive," she said.

"It's not that– it's _that,"_

Ron was pointing at the envelope. Amara glanced at Harry and saw he looked confused too. Ron was staring as though it would suddenly turn out to be a bomb.

"What's the matter?" Harry voiced Amara's question.

"She's – she's sent me a Howler," said Ron weakly. Amara looked at the letter again.

"What?" she said.

"You better open it, Ron," said Neville timidly. "It'll be worse if you don't, my gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and –" he paused to gulp. "it was horrible."

"But what _is _a Howler?" Amara said, but received no answer. Ron had his entire concentration on the letter.

The letter itself had started to smoke in the corners.

"Open it," Neville urged him "It'll all be over in a few minutes …"

Ron finally moved – he stretched out his hand and shakily took the letter from Errol, who was still motionless. He slit it open and Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A moment later, Amara found out why they were so scared. At first, she thought it had exploded, but there was a voice in the sound, making dust rain on their heads.

"_… STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STIPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE …"_

It was Mrs Weasley's voice, amplified so much that the plates rattled. There was immediate silence (apart from the Howler) in the Great Hall, everyone swivelled around to look at them. Amara turned slightly red as they all stared where she as sitting, as Ron was next to her, slowly disappearing under the table.

_"… LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED …"_

Amara thought it was going to stop, but it kept going. Harry had looked extrememly awkward when his named popped up.

"_... ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED, YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."_

The letter burst into flames and turned into ashes on the table top. Amara was stunned, she hadn't expected _that._ A few people who were watching laughed and the rest turned back to their conversations once more. Hermione closed her book with a snap and looked at the only part of Ron that was visible.

"Well I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you –"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron, finally coming back up.

"Leave it," hissed Amara to Hermione, who glared.

Professor McGonagall was now heading alone the table, handing out timetables. Amara looked and saw they had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first thing.

The four friends left together to walk across the vegetable patch, and to the greenhouses. Hermione had obviously decided that Harry and Ron had had enough punishment, for she was friendly towards them again. The rest of the class was waiting by the time they got there, for Professor Sprout had not arrived.

She arrived seconds after them, however, but she did not seem all that cheerful as a bouncing Gilderoy Lockhart was with her, both carrying armfuls of bandages. Amara saw Harry look at a tree that must've been the Whomping Willow, for the branches had slings on them.

Professor Sprout continued to be disgruntled, and Amara noted the odd contrast between the two Professors. Professor Sprout was squat with a hat over her flyaway hair, her fingernails always had dirt underneath them and her clothes contained a lot of earth. Gilderoy Lockhart was, instead, completely immaculate, his hair glinting in the sun as he was pristine robes of turquoise, complete with a matching hat.

"Oh, hello there!" Lockhart said, rather chirpily, beaming. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology that she is!" Amara whispered to Harry and Ron as he kept wittering on.

"Not flipping likely!" she said as Professor Sprout finally interrupted.

"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" she said.

Amara was surprised – they'd only worked in Greenhouse One before. Neville looked extremely excited at this prospect too.

Professor Sprout unlocked the door with a large key, Amara followed after Ron, with the whiff of damp earth and the umbrella sized flowers.

"… you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" Amara heard Lockhart say. She looked behind and saw that Harry had been captured by him. The look on Harry's face made Amara snort, before she quickly hurried inside and stood with Ron and Hermione.

"Where's Harry?" asked Ron as Professor Sprout came in too, looking more peeved than ever.

"Lockhart," she said, and looked at the table. There were lots of pairs of different coloured earmuffs on the table in front of them. Professor Sprout was obviously waiting for Harry to arrive before starting, because she stood behind the trestle bench, trying not to scowl.

When Harry came back a few minutes later, she started.

"We'll be re-potting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

After a summer of forgetting, Amara forgot to duck when Hermione's hand shot up in the air. As a result, she got a smack in the face by her hand, giving Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus something to guffaw about. Hermione, who hadn't noticed, carried on, whilst Amara rubbed her cheek, scowling at the boys.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Amara shifted herself into Harry as Hermione's hand shot up again.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said

"Precisely, take another ten points," said Professor Sprout. "Now, the Mandrakes we have we have are still very young."

She pointed to a row of deep trays. Everyone shuffled forwards to look at the hundred or so tufty little plants, which were purplish green.

"Everyone take a pair of earmuff," said Professor Sprout, and everyone immediately grabbed the ones that weren't pink and fluffy. Amara got herself some blue ones, after slapping Ron's hand away.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are _completely_ covered," said Professor Sprout "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right – earmuffs _on."_

Amara snapped the earmuffs onto her ears, and laughed when she couldn't hear a thing. She sung out loud and grinned when no one reacted. She gasped, however, when Professor Sprout, complete with her own pink and fluffy earmuffs, pulled out the Mandrake. It was a small, muddy and very ugly baby, with leaves growing out of its head. It was pale green and had disgusting mottled skin, and by the looks of it, it was screaming. Professor Sprout then transferred the ugly baby and plunged it into a pot, which was filled with mud. She gave them the thumbs-up. Amara looked at the others when she had taken them off, Harry and Ron looked surprised but Hermione looked as though she had seen one before, which she probably had, in a textbook.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said, calmly as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. "However, they _will _knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up.

"Four to a tray – there is a large supply of pots here – compost in the sacks over there – and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula, it's teething." She slapped a spiky red pant away from her shoulder as she said this.

Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione got themselves a tray. There was a group of Hufflepuffs next to them, and one of them turned to talk.

He had curly hair and looked rather posh and middle-class.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said brightly, moving forwards to shake Harry's hand. "Know who you are, of course, the famous Harry Potter … and you're Hermione Granger – always top in everything (he shook her hand too) … Amara Matthews – the whizz of Charms and Transfiguration, am I correct? (He shook Amara's hand) And Ron Weasley, wasn't that your flying car?"

Ron looked very annoyed at that.

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" said Justin, as the rest of his group got to work. Amara filled pots with dragon-dung compost, thinking the boy was getting increasingly irritating. "Awfully brave chap. Have you read his books? I'd have died of far if I'd been cornered in a telephone box by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and – zap – just _fantastic._

"My name was down for Eton, you know, I can't tell you how glad I am I came here instead." Amara tried to tune out his ramblings. "Of course, mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family …"

Luckily thought, after that he couldn't continue, for they had to put their earmuffs back on and concentrate. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world, for the Mandrakes preferred it in the ground, but then didn't want to go back in. They squirmed and kicked, trying to bite them with their evil little teeth. Amara always seemed to get particularly violent ones and by the end of class, she was covered in dirt, was sweating and very tired.

They had a quick wash before Transfiguration, which Amara looked forward too. It was actually quite hard that day, for they had to remember _everything _from the year before and turn the beetle into a button. Amara got to work straight away and produced several fine, coat buttons and some fancy ones too. Ron was having it tough, because his wand had snapped when they had crashed the car. His wand refused to work properly for he had put it together again with Spellotape (the wizard-equivalent to Sellotape). It kept emitting wafts of disgusting smoke that smelt of eggs. Amara was glad that she was on the next desk along with Hermione, so she didn't feel the full affect.

Amara and Hermione left for lunch, whilst Ron and Harry stayed behind (it looked as though Ron was getting angry at his wand). Hermione showed them her and Amara's coat buttons when they got back, which did not improve his mood. Amara, however, was quite content, for Transfiguration was one of her best subjects.

"What've we got this afternoon?" said Harry

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," sad Hermione at once.

Ron snatched her timetable quickly "_Why_," he demanded "Have you outlined all Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"

Amara snorted into her lunch as Hermione snatched it back, blushing.

They went outside after lunch and sat down on the stone step. Hermione immediately started reading again, whilst Amara, Ron and Harry talked about Quidditch. Amara became aware that someone was watching, so she looked up to see the eager boy from the Sorting the night before. He was staring at Harry and was holding a Muggle camera tightly in his hands. He blushed when he saw them looking.

"All right, harry? I'm – I'm Colin Creevey," he said, rather breathless. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think – would it be alright is – can I have a picture?" Amara blinked.

"A picture?" asked Harry

"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on your forehead" (his eyes raked Harry's hairline) "and a boy in my dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll _move_." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said, "It's _brilliant_ here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home to him. And it'd be really good if I had one of you –" he looked imploringly at Harry " - maybe your friend could take it and I could stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"

"_Signed photos? _You're giving out _signed photos, _Potter?" The worst person who could have heard said. Draco Malfoy. Amara had not wanted to see him again for a long time, but knew it was inevitable. His loud voice carried over the entire courtyard so that everyone could hear. Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's 'friends', were behind him.

"Everyone queue up!" Malfoy shouted "Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

"No, I'm not," said Harry angrily "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You're just jealous," piped up poor, ignorant Colin, who was so tiny Crabbe could squish him with his foot.

"_Jealous?" _Malfoy said, who now had the entire courtyard listening. "Of what? I don't wan a foul scar right across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself." Crabbe and Goyle sniggered dutifully.

"Then you need to rush up on your history, then, if you don't know the _real _reason," Amara snapped. "And by the looks of things, you _are, _because _you _keep going on about it."

Crabbe and Goyle were now glaring at her.

"Yeah," said Ron "Eat slugs, Malfoy."

"Nobody asked _you _Matthews," Malfoy retorted "And watch it, Weasley, you don't want to start trouble or your mummy'll have to come and take you away from school." He put on a disgusting high, shrill voice. "_If you put another toe out of line –"_

Amara glowered at him as some Slytherins laughed.

"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," Malfoy smirked. "It'd be worth more thn his family's whole house –"

Amara nearly lunged at Malfoy then, but she saw Lockhart strolling towards them.

"Look out!" whispered Hermione

"What's all this, what's all this?" he said, his robes swishing. "Who's giving out signed photos?"

"Well –" Harry began.

"Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"

Amara rolled her eyes as Lockhart got Colin to do a 'double portrait' as the bell rang. She waited for Hermione to shove her book in her bag before going off to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ron with her, for Harry had been pulled away by Lockhart.

As they entered the classroom they saw Harry stacking his books up in front of him, as though it could act as a barrier so he could not see the actual Lockhart, just his smiling photos. They sat down next to Harry.

"You could've fried an egg on your face," said Ron. "You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan club."

"Shut up," Harry snapped.

Once the class was seated, Lockhart began his lesson. He cleared his throat and picked up Neville's copy of _Travels with Trolls _and showed the winking portrait on the cover.

"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. Amara heard Hermione sigh. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class ,Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of _Witch Weekly's _Most-Charming-Smile Award – but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by _smiling _at her!"

This was obviously meant as a joke, for he waited for them to laugh.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books – well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about – just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in …"

He handed out the test papers and said "You have thirty minutes. Start – _now!_"

Amara looked at her paper.

_ What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour?_

_ What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?_

_ What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?_

It didn't stop there either – three sides and:

_ 54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?_

Amara was honestly shocked at how self-involved and vain one man could be. Her respect for the man who had said to have done so many great things was slowly decreasing.

She gave the test ago, however, for she _had _read the books before.

Half an hour later, he collected the papers back in.

"Tut, tut – hardly any of you remembered that my favourite colour is lilac. I say so In _Year with the Yeti. _And a few of you need to read _Wanderings with Werewolves _more carefully – I clearly state in Chapter Twelve that my ideal birthday girt would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples – though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky!"

Amara made a noise of disgust. She wondered why she had ever liked this guy. She saw Ron looking on in disbelief and Dean and Seamus laughing at the front. Hermione made Amara become repulsed, for she was staring at Lockhart, dreamy-eyed but listening intently. She started when he said her name.

"… but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions – good girl! In fact (he flicked through he paper) full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"

Hermione raised her hand.

"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so – to business …"

He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.

"Now – be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

Amara thought that this could be interesting. Lockhart's respect _could _come back, for the quiz could have just been a starter… Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now and Neville was cowering in his front row seat.

"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them."

As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.

"Yes," he said dramatically. "_Freshly caught Cornish pixies_."

Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.

"Yes?" He smiled at Seamus.

"Well, they're not-they're not very-dangerous, are they?" Seamus choked.

"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"

Amara looked at the pixies. They were eight-inches high, electric blue and very pointy faces. They had very shrill voices that made Amara squirm, they jabbered and rocketed about, rattling the bars of their cage and make stupid faces.

"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!"

And he _opened the cage._

Amara's respect for him went down to the ground. The man had no idea what he was doing. Two pixies shot forward and grabbed Neville by the ears, lifting him up into the air. They shot through the windows, sprayed ink over the class, shredded books and papers, tore the paintings and pictures off the walls. They wrecked the classroom – throwing bags and books out of the window – putting Neville on the candelabra on the ceiling, making everyone hide under their desks.

"Come on now – round them up, round them up, they're only pixies!" said Lockhart.

"_Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" _he shouted, his sleeves rolled up. The spell did not work, the pixies carried on rampaging – one even got his wand and threw it out the window. Lockhart immediately ducked under the table, just as Neville fell off the candelabra.

Luckily the bell rang and everyone rushed hopefully to the door. Lockhart emerged from his desk, strolled over to Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were nearly out the door and said "Well, I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back in their cage."

And with that, he was gone out the door. Amara gaped after him, before swatting a pixie out of her hair.

They seemed to be attracted to it – at least five grabbed clumps of her hair in order to pull her up. Harry whacked them away with his book.

"Can you _believe_ him?" roared Ron as a pixie bit him.

"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione, immobilising two pixies with the freezing charm Amara was using, and stuffing them into their cage.

_"Hands on?" _echoed Harry and Amara together, incredulously.

"He doesn't have a clue what he was doing –" said Harry

"Rubbish," Hermione said. "You've read his books – look at all those amazing things he's done –"

"How _can _he have done them, though?" Amara snapped, freezing more pixies. "It's too much for _one _person to handle – and looking at him in real life, it's hard to believe it!"

"Yeah," said Ron "He only _says _he's done them."


	6. The Meaning of 'Mudblood'

**_Chapter Six_**

**_The Meaning of 'Mudblood'_**

Harry was prone to magically disappearing over the next few days, dodging Lockhart, and Colin Creevey, who popped up everywhere, and was becoming increasingly annoying. He would disappear behind a suit of armour every time Lockhart was strolling down the corridor they were on, and didn't reappear until he had swept past, grinning his dazzling smile. Colin, however, seemed to have their timetable etched in his brain, for Amara saw him every time they went to a different class. And, every time, he would trill chirpily "Alright Harry?". Harry always replied back with a dull "Hullo Colin," which Amara thought was just the automatic response that was looped inside his mind. At first Amara thought it was funny, but hearing it about six times a day made Amara get tired. Ron was having an annoying time too, for his wand was still playing up, always emitting something loud and crackly. Amara told him he should write home for a new one, but Ron always said he didn't want another Howler incident.

On the first Saturday morning, Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione had made plans to see Hagrid. She lazed in her bed for quite a while before Hermione pushed her out of bed. When she had gotten down to the common room with Hermione, however, they found Ron sitting on the sofa waiting for them. The common room was nearly empty, for everyone was still at breakfast. There were a few Prefects over in a corner, muttering about some homework essay they had to hand in. They didn't look over, however, when Amara and Hermione descended the stairs.

"Where's Harry?" Amara asked, flopping onto the sofa next to him. Ron was eating a chocolate frog from his pocket. Amara wondered how he could eat it before breakfast, but then decided it was easy to, because it was chocolate.

"Quidditch practise," he said, finishing the frog. "He left a note."

"Well, he must be nearly done," said Amara, taking the card from the frog off him and looking at it (it was Circe, which she had, so she flung it back, Ron scowling at her) "If he was gone so early, shall we get some breakfast and go down to meet him down in the stands?"

The other two agreed, so they walked down to the Great Hall. The Hall was packed, as usual, so they grabbed what they wanted to eat. Amara grabbed some napkins too, so that the toast she was taking wouldn't make her hands _too _messy. Outside, the sun had nearly risen (which reminded Amara how early it was on a Saturday) but some mist lingered above the dewy grass. It looked eerie but peaceful, for the mist made the pitch look mysterious. They walked across the pitch and five minutes later they were sitting in the Quidditch stands, munching on toast they had brought with them, waiting for Harry to come out. When he did, they were surprised to see him dressed in his Quidditch robes, clutching his broomstick.

"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.

"Haven't even started," said Harry.

Amara noticed Colin Creevey in the stands too, with his camera poised up high, waiting for Harry to get in the air. Harry hadn't noticed him yet, for he raced Fred and George around the pitch.

They seemed to talk, for Oliver Wood, their captain, flew over too. He seemed to be angry about something, for he flew down to the ground quickly, Fred, George and Harry following. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell quickly dismounted too, and Amara saw what was going on.

It seemed the Slytherin team had arrived, eventhough the Gryffindors were there. There was a heated discussion going on.

"Typical," said Amara "Just what they needed."

"Shall we go see?" Ron asked, as they had finished their toast.

They got up and walked over the slightly damp grass towards the two teams.

"What's happening?" asked Ron "Why aren't you playing? And what's _he _doing here?" Amara turned and saw Malfoy looking very smug in Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," he said, smirking. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Amara saw the new brooms the Slytherin team were holding. The sun glinted on them, making the gold lettering shine. It was the broom Jesse was getting, the newest Nimbus.

"Good, aren't they?" Malfoy was saying "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

Amara scoffed as the Slytherins howled with laughter. "Couldn't face Harry being better than you, could you Malfoy? Had to get higher than him _somehow, _but by buying your way in? That's low even for you, though it lets you show off more, doesn't it?" she shot at him.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

Amara blinked, having no idea what it meant. But it was obviously something bad, for there was a large uproar at the word. Fred and George tried to jump on Malfoy, but Marcus Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team, dived in front of him first. Alicia shrieked "_How dare you!" _and Ron shoved his hands in his robes and pulled out his wand.

"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" he yelled, pointing it under Flint's arm and at Malfoy.

There was a bang and the jet of green light aimed at Malfoy came out the wrong end of Ron's wand. It hit him in the stomach and made him reel over backwards.

"RON! _Ron! _Are you OK?" Amara squeaked, bending over him.

She immediately shuffled backwards, for Ron opened his mouth and belched out several slugs, that landed on his lap.

It was entirely unamusing, seeing Ron burping slugs, but the Slytherin team seemed to find it hilarious. Flint was doubled up laughing; Malfoy was banging the floor on all fours whilst the other members were laughing hysterically. The Gryffindor team gathered around Ron, but nobody wanted to touch him whilst he burped large, slimy slugs that slid away on the grass.

"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, its nearest," said Harry to Hermione and Amara, who both reached down to help get Ron up, trying to dodge his mouth.

"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin squeaked excitedly, having run up to them to see what was happening.

"Go away!" snapped Amara, pushing him slightly, because Ron had just coughed up a load more slugs that nearly hit him and his dancing camera. Colin jumped back obediently, looking at the slugs.

He started to raise his camera, but Amara made Harry hurry them away.

"Almost there, Ron," said Hermione as Hagrid's hut came into view. "You'll be alright in a minute – almost there –"

They had nearly reached Hagrid's house when the front door opened. Gilderoy Lockhart, clad in pale mauve today, came out of the door, looking around him.

Harry immediately dragged Ron behind a bush, Amara and Hermione, who was rather reluctant, following quickly.

"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying now, to Hagrid, who seemed to be standing by his door. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one – I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, goodbye!" He strode off, back towards the castle.

They waited until he had disappeared before coming out of the bush and walking the rest of the way to Hagrid's. Amara knocked on the door, rather urgently, because Ron looked as though he was going to cough up more slugs any minute.

Hagrid opened the door at once, looking rather grumpy, but brightening once seeing it was the four friends.

"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me – come in, come in – thought you mighta bn Professor Lockhart back again –"

Amara walked inside Hagrid' cosy hut, Hermione and Harry pulling Ron with them behind her. She had always liked Hagrid's house, with its one room. There was a fire crackling away in a corner, and a huge bed in the other one.

Harry explained what had happened to Ron, and Hagrid gave him a large copper basin in front of him, rather cheerfully.

"Better out than in," he said "Get 'em all up, Ron."

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione, rather worriedly, looking as Ron disappeared in the basin again. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand –"

Whilst Fang alternated from slobbering over Harry's robes and Amara's clothes, Hagrid made some tea.

"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asked

"Givin' me advice on getting' kelpies out of a well," Hagrid growled, he shoved a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table to make space for the teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."

It was surprising to hear Hagrid talk about a Professor in such away – he had always had respect for them. Amara and Harry looked at him.

"I think you're being a bit unfair," she said, her voice rather high and a slight tinge appearing on her cheeks. "Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job –"

"He was the _on'y _man for the job," said Hagrid, offering a plate of treacle fudge. Amara declined, for she still was full up from the toast she ate. "An' I mean the _on'y _one. Getting' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, looking at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"

"Malfoy called Amara something – it must've been really bad, because everyone went mad," said Harry.

"It _was _bad," said Ron, his voice hoarse, and his face pale and glistening. "Malfoy called her 'Mudblood', Hagrid –" he stopped as he more slugs came out of his mouth.

Hagrid looked outraged. He turned to Amara. "He didn'!" he growled.

"He did, actually, but what _is _it? It's obviously something rude, because everyone was so horrified." She said. She was confused, as she had no idea what it could mean.

""It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," gasped Ron, coming back up. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born-you know, non-magic parents. There are some wizards - like Malfoy's family - who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood." He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell into his outstretched hand. He threw it into the basin and continued, "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom - he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell Hermione or Amara can' do," said Hagrid proudly, making Amara blush crimson.

"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his head. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's mad. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out." He retched and ducked his head back into the basin. Amara was getting slightly nauseous every time this happened.

"Well, I don' blame yeh fer tryin' ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid loudly, for Ron's slugs were thudding in the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. 'Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."

Amara wondered if having slugs coming rapidly out of your mouth was worth not cursing Malfoy.

"Harry," said Hagrid, as though a thought had come into his mind. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"

Amara laughed as Harry looked furious. "I have _not _been giving out signed photos," he said, still furious and massaging his jaw from where he wrenched it open. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around –"

Amara carried on giggling as Hagrid joined in.

"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Harry on the back, which sent him face first onto the table top, which only made Amara laugh harder. Harry glared at her whilst Hagrid kept talking. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn' need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."

"Bet that went down well," Amara grinned as Harry rubbed his chin.

"Don' think it did," said Hagrid "An' then I told him I'd never read one o' his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?"

"No thanks," said Ron, his face still pale "Better not risk it."

"Come an' see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid once everyone had finished their tea. It always took a while, for the mugs were huge in Hagrid's house.

They went outside to the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house, like a little garden.

On the patch there were a dozen of huge pumpkins – bigger than any Amara had seen. They were as big as boulders, and an amazingly nice orange colour. Their stems and leaves were just as big. Amara wondered how on earth Hagrid had managed, it made the ones she, Tessie and Ethan used to carve look pitiful.

"Gettin' on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Hallowe'en feast," he added, unnecessarily "Should be big enough by then." Amara gazed at them, thinking about how big they were going to be if they weren't big enough yet. She could probably fit inside one when it was finished growing.

"What've you been feeding them?" said Harry, also looking amazed at the size of them.

Hagrid looked over his shoulder "Well," he said "I've bin givin' them – you know – a bit o' help."

On the back wall of Hagrid's cabin was the flowery pink umbrella Hagrid used that seemed to contain his old school wand concealed in the middle. Nobody knew for certain though, because Hagrid was expelled in his third year, for Harry had told them, but they didn't know why. He seemed to always become hard of hearing once the subject arrived, and didn't say anything until had changed.

"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" Hermione asked, looking torn between laughter and disapproval that Hagrid was breaking the rules. "Well, you;ve done a good job on them."

"That's what yer little sister said," said Hagrid, looking towards Ron, who still looked sick, but better than he was. "Met her just yesterday. Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter somone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeh ask me, _she _wouldn' say no ter a signed –"

Amara laughed as Ron snorted – spraying the ground with slugs.

"Watch it!" Hagrid roared, pulling him away. Ron looked shocked at the sudden movement and didn't seem able to cough up more slugs.

They decided to head back up to the castle then, for it was nearly lunchtime and Harry was looking as though he could eat the pumpkins. They bade Hagrid goodbye before walking up the sloping lawns to the castle. Ron seemed to better by now, for he only burped up two tiny slugs.

They stepped into the cool Entrance Hall when Professor McGonagall walked towards them.

"There you are, Potter – Weasley," she said sternly "You will both do your detentions this evening."

"What will we be doing, Professor?" Ron asked nervously.

"_You _will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr Filch," she replied "And no magic, Weasley – elbow grease."

Amara winced, for that seemed very harsh. Argus Filch, the bitter old caretaker, would not be lenient with Ron; he'd have him working until his hands fell off. She did not envy what he had to do that evening at all.

"And you, Potter, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail." said Professor McGonagall.

"Oh no – Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room too?" asked Harry desperately. Amara stifled a laugh at the look of horror on Harry's face, as though he had been sentenced to death.

"Certainly not," McGonagall said, her eyebrows rising. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, both of you." With that, she walked away into the Great Hall for lunch. Amara and Hermione followed her, with Harry and Ron moping along behind them, complaining loudly about their detentions. They sat down at the Gryffindor Table with them still complaining, for they both thought they had the worst deal. Amara thought Ron's was the worst, only because it was going to be hard work, but Harry's _was _going to be tedious – trying to tune out Lockhart's irritating self-absorbed conversation for goodness knows how long.

Amara tucked into her Shepard's pie with gusto, for she didn't have detention that evening. The afternoon went by nicely – she didn't have any homework to do, for it was the first weekend back. She went to the library with Hermione to look up the weird creatures pulling the carriages. She hadn't yet asked Hermione about them, so she did as they left Harry and Ron in the common room.

"I didn't realise that the carriages were pulled by weird creatures – I would have thought horses would pull them," Amara said as they walked down the corridor.

Hermione gave her a very odd look. "What on earth are you talking about, Amara? The carriages are pulled on their own."

Amara blinked. "No they're not," she insisted. "There are these horse-like things – all black and skeletal, with weird eyes. You _must _have noticed them!"

Hermione kept the odd look on her face. "Don't be stupid, I think we'd _know _if something was pulling the carriages!"

Amara scowled. "I'm telling the truth you know – in fact, I'm researching it in the library – d'you think Madam Pince will know?" They entered the library then, the stifled silence engulfing them.

Madam Pince, who was weirdly good at hearing, came up to them.

"Yes?" she said, as if she knew Amara was going to ask her something. Hermione had already walked away to look at the shelves.

"Um, I was wondering, where are the books on Magical Creatures – more unknown ones?" Amara stammered, as Madam Pince glared at her.

"Was there something in particular that you were looking for?" she asked, her voice showing no emotion.

"Well," Amara said "I don't know its name, you see, I just know it pulls the school carriages."

Madam Pince looked at her, but not in the odd way Hermione did earlier.

"Follow me," she snapped, striding away and up to a catwalk at the top of the high ceiling. She reached for a book and stifled carefully through the pages, before shoving the book into Amara's hands.

"Here," she said before stalking off to tell some fourth year Hufflepuffs off for talking and giggling.

Amara looked at the pages Madam Pince had put the book on and looked at the picture. It was of the horse-type thing that pulled the carriages. She carefully took the book down to where Hermione was sitting, reading a huge book on spells.

"Look!" she said, thrusting the book in Hermione's face. "I _told _you they were real!"

Hermione blinked and looked at the picture.

"What are they?" she asked.

"_Thestrals," _Amara said, putting the book on her lap.

"_It is rare to have a sighting of a Thestral, for they are rare, secretive creatures that can only be seen to those who have witnessed death and have fully accepted the concept. Due to this occurrence, many wizards believe Thestrals are omens of misfortune and aggression, which is not helped by their grim appearance. The Ministry of Magic's Classification of this 'beast' is XXXX, for they are dangerous creatures that can should be handled by experienced wizards only …" _Amara looked up to see Hermione rather pale.

"So, you can only see them if you've seen someone _die?_" she said, appalled "No wonder people think they're bad omens."

"They can't be that dangerous though; if they pull the school carriages – and it says here they have a great source of direction, and are really loyal. I think the author is torn." Amara said.

"So, you can see them?" Hermione asked, closing her book.

Amara nodded. "I saw my Great-Grandmother die in Hospital, about a two years ago." She said, remembering. "It's not that sad, she passed away in her sleep, and I was just sitting next to her on chair. That's the way she wanted to go, she was really old."

Hermione nodded "C'mon," she said "Let's go back to the Common Room, we don't want to be out after Curfew."

Harry and Ron had not left by the time they got back, for they still had dinner to go to. After saying goodbye to them, Harry and Ron left the common room at five to eight. Hermione was reading again, so Amara wondered over to see Ginny, who was sitting by the fire, writing.

"Hey Ginny," she said, sitting down next to her. "What are you doing?"

Ginny jumped very sharply and nearly upset her ink bottle. "Amara!" she squeaked, closing the thing she was writing in with a snap. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Amara replied, glancing at the slim black book Ginny had been writing in. "You? How's Hogwarts?"

Ginny slipped the book into her bag, and Amara decided it must've been her diary that she had. "It's good thanks, met some nice people."

Fred and George bounced over with Lee a second later.

"Amara!" Fred said, "How nice to see you!"

"Would you like to have a game of Exploding Snap with us?" asked George, sitting on one side of Ginny, while Fred sat next to Amara. Lee sat next to Fred.

Amara shrugged. "Okay."

They played for hours, Ginny went up to bed only a few games in, claiming she was too tired. Amara beat the three boys a lot, much to their disdain and amusement. They finally admitted defeat and went up to the boy's dormitory. Amara, not bothering to wait up for Harry or Ron, went to bed too, for they would be quite a while.


	7. The Deathday Party

**_Chapter Seven_**

**_The Deathday Party_**

As September rolled into October, the weather brought a damp chill in the air and the castle. Amara had to go to the Hospital Wing, because she had gotten a cold and needed Madam Pomfrey's Pepperup Potion to stop it. It amused Harry and Ron all afternoon, for she had steam pouring out her ears as the side-affect. She was very self-conscious with the fact that she received amused stares the entire time, but it was better than Ginny, whose red-hair gave the impressions she had been set alight.

The weather did not improve; in fact it got worse as October went by. Raindrops hammered on the windows for days on end, which certainly put a damper on Amara's mood. She was not at all jealous of Harry and the rest of the Quidditch team, for Oliver Wood's enthusiasm had not dampened with the weather – in contrast, it had brightened. Harry always came back from practises soaked and muddy, and Fred and George went out of their way to drip on Amara as they passed her, so she'd get annoyed.

A few days before Hallowe'en, Amara, Ron and Hermione were in the Common Room, finishing off homework and waiting for Harry to get back from a particularly rainy Quidditch Practise.

Amara was helping Ron with his Potions homework, pointing out mistakes he'd made and what else to put. Hermione could have done a better job, because Amara was not all that great at Potions (not with Snape leering at you, smirking at the failed attempts) but she was trying, for she was better than Harry and Ron.

Hermione disapproved of Amara's helping though, but Amara shouted her down by saying at least she wasn't _writing _it for them – which she wasn't, she was merely giving pointers of what to put next.

Harry came dripping into the common room and immediately disappeared up the boy's dormitory, not coming down nearly half an hour later.

"Guess what?" he said as he sat down. "We've been invited to a Deathday Party – Nick's having one, I promised I'd go."

"A Deathday Party?" said Hermione, rather keenly "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those – it'll be fascinating!"

"Why would anybody want to celebrate the day they died?" said Ron, who was getting grumpy with his homework, for he had made another mistake. "Sounds dead depressing to me …"

Amara nodded but agreed with Hermione as well. A Deathday Party _did _sound fascinating…

"How'd you get into promising it anyways?" asked Amara

Harry told them what happened to him in the Entrance Hall with Filch. The rain was still pouring down, lashing at the windows like it had done something evil. The sky was now inky black and very depressing, but inside the common room, the fire was crackling merrily and everyone was talking, reading and doing homework. That was, apart from Fred and George, who seemed to never have homework. They were finding out what happens when you fed a Salamander a Filibuster Firework. Fred had said he had 'rescued' the Salamander from his Care of Magical Creatures lesson that day. It was an interesting creature, it was bright orange and looked like a lizard, but it loved the fire and warmth. They had already fed it the Firework, and now a cluster of people were now watching it to see what was going to happen.

Harry was just about to tell them something else when the Salamander whizzed into the air, loud sparks and bangs coming out of its mouth as it twirled ungracefully around the room. Amara laughed so much she had tears in her eyes when she saw Percy yelling at Fred and George as the Salamander whizzed overhead, tangerine sparks spouting out its mouth in a truly delightful display.

Whatever Harry was going to say was driven out of his mind at the display, for Percy did not stop yelling until the Salamander managed to divert itself into the fire, where it quite happily danced around in the flames, a few sparks hiccupping out of its mouth.

-OOOOOO-

Amara was wishing she did not have to go to the Deathday Party when Hallowe'en arrived. Their last Feast had been cut short because Quirrell had let a troll in, and Amara wanted to see what the Hall was like. Hagrid's pumpkins had grown so big they could fit all four of them inside it with room to spare. It was also rumoured that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons too, which Amara longed to see. Hermione, however, seemed intent on keeping them going, for Harry was regretting saying he'd go too.

"A promise is a promise," she said "You _said _you'd go to the Deathday Party."

Amara didn't know how Hermione could find a party about someone's death so interesting – it was fascinating, but not so much that it was something nobody should miss.

Ron didn't seem keen either, and he wanted to go to the normal Feast too. At seven o'clock that evening, Amara and the others passed the Great Hall, with its four tables laden with gold plates and brightly lit candles, Hagrid's pumpkins suspended in the air and live bats moving like a giant cloud across the table.

They went down to the dungeons instead, which was a fit place for a Deathday Party. The passageway was lit with black candles with bright blue flames that cast a horrible depressing glow on the walls and ghosts around them. The temperature dropped dramatically as well, Amara wished she had chosen a thicker jumper under her robes. A truly dreadful sound – like fingernails scraping across a blackboard – was heard and Amara supposed it was meant to be music.

Nearly Headless Nick stood at the doorway with black drapes, inviting everyone in.

"My dear friends," he said mournfully. "Welcome, welcome … so pleased you could come …"

He bowed them inside.

Amara had to admit, it was a truly wondrous sight. The dungeon was completely filled with hundreds pearly-white, transparent ghosts, floating about and talking or waltzing across the dance floor to the horrible scratchy music from the orchestra.

It was also very cold inside, with the midnight-blue flamed candles. Amara shivered through her jumper and robes.

"Shall we have a look around?" Harry suggested, shivering too.

"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Ron nervously, so they edged their way around the crowded dance floor, dodging out of the way of ghosts. There were a lot of ghosts there; Amara spotted the Fat Friar, the Bloody Baron and the ghost of Ravenclaw in a corner, who Amara didn't see often. She also saw Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who'd made her jump in the bathroom on the first night. She realised they were heading towards her, and stopped.

"Oh no," she said, looking at Hermione, who'd stopped too.

"Turn back," said Hermione "I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle –"

"Who?" asked Harry as they hurried away.

"Moaning Myrtle," Amara said "She haunts the girls' toilet on the first-floor."

Hermione nodded.

"She haunts a _toilet?" _asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Amara "I met her the first night back – gave me a right shock, jumping out behind me. It's been out of order all year though; she keeps flooding the place –"

"- from all her tantrums. It's awful going in there, with her wailing at you whilst you're trying to go to the loo…" Hermione trailed off as Harry and Ron looked slightly amused.

"Look, food!" said Ron suddenly.

There was a long table full of food that they eagerly approached, Amara realising she was rather hungry.

They stopped immediately though, when they saw what was there. Everything was gone off, the fish were rotten, the cheese was furry – the haggis had maggots wriggling about on it and the plate and the cakes were burnt black. There was an enormous grey cake in the middle, in a tombstone shape.

_Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington_

_Died 31__st__ October, 1492_

Amara gagged as the smell wafted up her nose and mouth. A ghost passed through a salmon with his mouth open wide.

"Can you taste it if you walk through it?" asked Harry.

"Almost," said the ghost, drifting away.

"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavour," Hermione said, punching her nose and moving closer to the haggis. Amara pulled her back, gagging slightly.

"Can we move? I feel sick," said Ron and Amara agreed.

They had just turned around when Peeves the Poltergeist, contrasting greatly with the other ghosts, wearing an orange party hat and bow tie popped up from under the table. He was supporting a rather large grin, that Amara was very wary of.

"Hello Peeves," said Harry

"Nibbles?" he said sweetly, shoving a bowel of fungus-covered peanuts under their faces.

"No thanks," said Amara

"Heard you two talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeves, his eyes glinting. "_Rude _you was about poor Myrtle." He stopped to take a breath and bellowed "OY! MYRTLE!"

"Oh, no, Peeves, don't tell her what I said, she'll be really upset," said Hermione frantically. "I didn't mean it, I don't mind her – er, hello Myrtle."

Myrtle had drifted over to where they were standing, looking glum with her lank hair and pearly glasses.

"What?" Myrtle said sulkily

"Nice seeing you again!" added Amara brightly. "How are you?"

Myrtle sniffed, as though to answer.

"Miss Granger and Miss Matthews were just talking about you –" said Peeves slyly.

"About how nice it is to see you!" Amara cut in hastily.

Myrtle eyed her doubtfully, her eyes welling up.

"You're making fun of me," she said, the pearly tears now streaming down her face.

"No! Honestly –"

"Don't lie to me!" she gasped, more tears pouring out of her face, Peeves cackling happily beside her. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"

"You've missed out 'spotty'," Peeves hissed horribly in her ear,

Myrtle bust into more wailing sobs, before fleeing from the dungeon. Peeves, not stopping in his act, shot after her, throwing his bowel of mouldy peanuts at her, yelling "_Spotty! Spotty!"_

"Oh," said Amara guiltily after they'd gone.

Nearly Headless Nick glided through the crowds to join them.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

"Oh yes," they chorused, Amara crossing her fingers behind her back.

"Not a bad turnout," said Nearly Headless Nick, puffing his chest out. "The Wailing Widow came all the way from Kent … it's nearly time for my speech, I'd better go warn the orchestra."

The orchestra, though, had stopped playing, and the whole dungeon went silent as a hunting horn sounded through the dungeon. The ghosts had left the dance floor and were looking around in excitement.

"Oh, here we go," said Nick, looking rather peeved.

Through one of the dungeon's walls came a dozen Headless Horsemen. The crowd clapped excitedly. The horses cantered to the middle of the room, the man in the front (whose head, which was tucked under his arm, was bearded and grinning) was blowing the horn. He stopped and jumped off his horse, lifting his head above the crowd to find Nearly Headless Nick.

"Nick!" he roared - his head now squashed onto his neck. "How are you? Head still hanging in there?" He laughed at his 'joke'.

"Welcome, Patrick," said Nearly Headless Nick stiffly.

"Live 'uns!" gasped Sir Patrick at the sight of Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione standing next to Nick. He jumped back and his head fell off and landed on the floor with a thump.

"Very amusing," said Nick darkly.

"Don't mind Nick!" shouted the head on the floor. It was a little peculiar, seeing someone's head on the floor, and Amara stifled a giggle. "Still upset we won't let him join the Hunt! But I mean to say – look at the fellow –"

"I think Nick's very – frightening – and – er –" stuttered Harry, which gave the obvious impression that Nick had told him to say it. Sir Patrick's head figured it out too.

"Ha!" he yelled "Bet he asked you to say that!"

"If I could have everyone's attention, it's time for my speech!" said Nick rather loudly, gliding towards the podium doused in and eerie blue spotlight.

"My late lamented lords, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great sorrow …"

Nothing else could be heard, for the Headless Hunt had started a game of Head Hockey and the crowd had decided to watch. Nick desperately tried to deliver his speech, but quickly gave up because the orchestra had started up again and the ghosts were flooding the dance floor again.

Amara was now very hungry and very cold.

"I can't stand much more than this," said Ron, his teeth chattering.

"Let's go," said harry,

They slyly made their way back to the door, smiling at the ghosts who looked at them, before hurrying off up the passageway. The further away Amara was from the dungeon, the warmer she felt.

"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully as they neared the Entrance Hall.

They had nearly got there when Harry stopped so abruptly Amara didn't realise until a few moments after.

"Harry?" she asked in confusion.

"What -?"

"It's that voice again – shut up a minute –"

Amara froze, bemused but listening.

They paused for a moment before Harry shouted "This way!" and ran up to the Entrance Hall. He sprinted the marble staircase – Amara, Ron and Hermione hurried after him, looking longingly at the Great Hall, which was bright and enticing.

"Harry, what are we -?" Ron began

"SHH!"

Amara was getting worried now; it seemed Harry could hear a voice nobody else could hear. His face was very pale.

"It's going to kill someone!" he yelled and sprinted off again.

Amara exchanged horrified looks with Ron and Hermione before running, panting with the effort to keep up. Whatever Harry had heard, it was bad. They ran across the entire Second Floor, not stopping until they were at the last passage. Amara gasped as she clutched a stitch in her side.

"Harry, _what _was all that about?" Ron demanded, "I couldn't hear anything!"

Amara looked up the corridor in front of them.

_"Look!"_

There was something on the wall up ahead, shining in the torchlight. They walked up to it slowly. Foot-high words had been written between two tall windows, glimmering in the glow of the orange flames.

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED_

_ENIMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE._

Amara gulped and looked below the words, at something hanging off the torch bracket.

She moved slightly closer with the others – Harry nearly slipped up on a puddle of water on the floor. They edged nearer.

"Is that -?" Amara squeaked and leaped backwards with a splash, ramming into Harry, who was behind her.

Mrs Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was frozen, her eyes wide and glassy.

They stared at her for a few moments before Ron stuttered out "Let's get out of here,"

"Shouldn't we try and help?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"No," Amara said firmly "We do _not _want to be found here."

But it was too late – a rumble of noise rung out around them, signalling the end of the feast. Hundreds of footsteps clattered from either side of the corridor, the sound of chatter filled their ears. It soon stopped when the crowds froze at the sight of Mrs Norris. Nobody move, Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione stood alone in the middle of the corridor.

But someone shouted out through the silence.

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Draco Malfoy pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold, grey eyes glinting with malice.


	8. The Writing on the Wall

**_A/N sorry, i totally forgot about updating today, thought it was Tuesday hahah ... thank you PotterHead181 for reminding me! :)_**

**_Chapter Eight_**

**_The Writing on the Wall_**

"What's going on here? What's going on?"

Argus Filch was struggling his way through the frozen crowds. Once he was through he saw Mrs Norris hanging from the torch bracket. He jumped back in shock, clutching his face in horror.

"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" he shrieked, his eyes popping.

His eyes fell on the trembling four, huddled alone in the corridor. He saw Harry and his eyes popped even more.

"_You!" _he screeched like an angry owl. "_You! _You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll –"

"_Argus!"_

Professor Dumbledore had arrived at the scene, followed by numerous teachers liked McGonagall and Snape. Moments later, he had taken Mrs Norris down from the bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You too, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Matthews and Miss Granger."

Lockhart then stepped forwards eagerly.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please feel free –"

"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.

Amara shuffled forwards to follow the teachers. The crowd parted as though they were diseased, Lockhart hurrying after Dumbledore excitedly. McGonagall and Snape followed silently too.

Once they had reached Lockhart's office (which, Amara saw, had numerous pictures of Lockhart on the walls) Lockhart quickly lit some candles on his desk and Dumbledore laid Mrs Norris gently down on it. He began to examine her, Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanging glances before seating themselves out of the sphere of candlelight.

Dumbledore was examining Mrs Norris so intently he was nearly face-planted in her fur. He was prodding her whilst McGonagall examined too, Snape half in the shadows and Lockhart hovering like an annoying fly, buzzing out suggestions.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her – probably the Transmogrifian Torture. I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there; I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her …"

Filch cut through the blabber by heaving out dry sobs. He was sunk in a chair behind the desk, head in his hands. Amara felt slightly sorry for Filch, because he loved Mrs Norris, but he was still vile and had said Harry had killed her.

Dumbledore had now gotten his wand out at tapping Mrs Norris with it, muttering strange and unrecognisable words under his breath. It still didn't give any affect – Mrs Norris stayed frozen.

"… I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadougou," said Lockhart "A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography. I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets which cleared the matter up at once …"

Amara rolled her eyes – trust _Lockhart _to move the situation onto talking about himself and his achievements. Hermione was listening fixedly though, her face slightly flushed.

Dumbledore eventually straightened up.

"She's not dead, Argus," he said and Amara suddenly felt relieved – not that she _liked _Mrs Norris or anything. Lockhart had immediately stopped blabbering on.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, finally looking at Mrs Norris. "But why is she all – all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been petrified," said Dumbledore, as Lockhart said "Ah! I thought so!", "But how, I cannot say …"

"Ask _him!_" shrieked Filch suddenly, turning his face to Harry and the others, still half in the shadows.

"No second-year could have done this," said Dumbledore, "It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced –"

"He did it, he did it!" Filch spat, spit flying out his mouth and his face going purple. "You saw what he wrote on the wall! He found – in my office – he knows I'm a – I'm a –" it seemed Filch was having trouble getting his words out. "He knows I'm a squib!"

Amara looked at Filch as realisation dawned on her – no wonder Filch was such a misery git, he was in a school of magic where he couldn't do anything. She couldn't help feel slightly sorry for him; it must be horrible, watching all these magical things happen and you to just be on the side.

"I never _touched _Mrs Norris!" said Harry loudly. "And I don't even know what a Squib _is."_

"Rubbish!" Filch snarled. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"

"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape, and Amara knew whatever Snape had to say, would not help Harry in the slightest. "Potter and his friends mat have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why were they in the upstairs corridor at all? Why weren't thy at the Hallowe'en feast?"

Amara, along with Harry, Ron and Hermione, began explaining the Deathday Party in great detail.

"But why not join the feast afterwards?" asked Snape, his eyes glinting horribly. "Why go up to that corridor?"

"We, um," said Amara quickly. "We wanted to go to bed."

"Without any supper?" said Snape, a smirk etched on his pale face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."

"We weren't hungry," said Ron over his stomach rumbling.

"And I have sweets in my bag anyway," said Amara, covering "We thought we could pick on those."

Snape merely smirked more.

"I suggest, headmaster," he said greasily "That Potter is not being entirely truthful. It might be a good idea if he were deprived of certain privileges until he is ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel he should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until he is ready to be honest."

Amara nearly scoffed as McGonagall said "Really, Severus. I see no reason for the boy to stop playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick. There is no evidence at all that Potter has done anything wrong." Amara agreed with her. It must've been Snape's aim all along – to get Harry in trouble so he wasn't a threat to the Slytherin team.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," said Dumbledore firmly.

Snape and Filch were not happy with this situation.

"My cat has been Petrified!" screeched Filch. "I want to see some _punishment!"_

"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore. "Professor Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes. As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made which will revive Mrs Norris."

"I'll make it," butted in Lockhart "I must have done it a hundred times, I could whip a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep –"

"Excuse me," said Snape icily. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."

There was an awkward pause as everyone glanced at each other.

"You may go," Dumbledore said to Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

They practically ran out of Lockhart's office. They hurried up to the next floor and went into an empty room.

"D'you think I should have told them about that voice I heard?"

"No," said Ron immediately. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."

Amara, by Ron's voice, wondered if he actually believed Harry.

"You do believe me, don't you?"

"Course I do," said Ron "But – you must admit it's weird …"

"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? _The Chamber has been opened _… what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once … might've been Bill …"

"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Harry.

Ron stifled a snigger, so Amara whacked him in the ribs with her elbow.

"_Ouch!" _he said and glared.

"A Squib is a muggle born into a wizarding family – they have no magic," Amara explained to Harry.

"How do _you _know?" said Ron, still rubbing his side.

"My Auntie – no blood relation, is one. She's married to my dad's brother."

"I thought your cousins were magical?" Harry asked.

"On my mum's side," nodded Amara. "Anyway, it would explain why Filch is so bitter, being around magic all the time. What's a Kwikspell course?"

"It teaches them magic, I think, Squibs are pretty unusual." Ron said.

Somewhere above them a clock chimed.

"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."

So they quietly went out of the abandoned classroom and up to their dormitories in silence, thinking about the night's events.

The school, it seemed, could not talk about anything other than the attack on Mrs Norris on Hallowe'en. Filch didn't let them forget, however, for he kept pacing the spot where the attack happened, to see if he could catch the attacker himself. The writing on the wall could not be removed either – Filch had given up trying to scrub it off, for it just gleamed brightly in the light. Filch was taking the loss of Mrs Norris hard – he kept trying to put people in detentions for the weirdest things, and they only were saved if McGonagall told Filch off. He prowled the corridors the entire time, but without Mrs Norris, it was easier to get away with things.

Ginny, Amara found out, was taking the attack on Mrs Norris rather badly. She did not believe Ron when he dismissed it with saying she loved cats.

"But you hadn't really got to know Mrs Norris," he told her. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Amara rolled her eyes. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron said "They'll catch the nutter who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking –" He added as Ginny blanched. Amara knocked him out of the way.

"Don't worry Ginny, I bet the person will be too scared to do anything else – it'll be fine! And we know Mrs Norris will be OK, once old Sprout has gotten her Mandrakes sorted out. It'll be fine – honest!" Ginny did not look completely convince, but nodded anyway.

Amara, though, along with Hermione, had decided to go check out if the Chamber of Secrets was written about in the Library. They spent most of their time in there, looking at different books. It reminded Amara of their time last year, looking for Nicolas Flamel. They didn't tell Harry and Ron what they were doing and Hermione seemed quite keen to stay in the Library the entire time, so Amara stayed with the boys occasionally.

Amara and Ron went to the Library the following Wednesday, and told Harry to meet them there, for Snape had meanly made him wait behind after Potions. Hermione had already gone and started browsing. Ron was trying to complete his History of Magic essay for Binns, which was next. Amara had already completed hers – she was quite proud of it, having done three feet ten inches when they were only meant to do three. Ron however was trying to fill in the gaps of the eight inches he still had to write.

Harry came in as he was muttering and measuring it again, as though it had magically gotten longer.

"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short …" said Ron.

"You measured it already," said Amara, taking out her own parchment.

"Yes, but Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's _tiny."_

"Where is she?" asked Harry, measuring his own essay.

"Over there," said Amara, pointing at some shelves vaguely.

"I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."

"I saw Justin Finch-Fletchley a minute ago," said Harry. "I was about to say hello when he saw me and ran away."

Amara frowned "How strange, he was ever so nice to you in Herbology."

"I thought he was a bit of an idiot," supplied Ron, making his writing huge. "All that rubbish about Lockhart being so great."

"Here," said Amara, shoving her essay at him. "Quickly write stuff before the bell goes – but I won't do it again, you had ten days to finish it."

Ron grinned at her and took the essay.

"Thanks Amara!"

Hermione came stomping to their table, looking thoroughly irritated about something.

"_All _the copies of _Hogwarts: A History _have been taken out," she said, sitting next to Amara. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I _wish _I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."

Amara sighed. "That's annoying – are you sure it would be in there, though? I mean, it can't be the nicest thing to write about, considering Hogwarts is meant to be really good."

Hermione shrugged. "It is, I think, I remember reading it, and nothing else has had it in, has it?"

"Why do you want it?" said Harry as Ron still scribbled away.

"The same reason everyone else wants it," said Hermione, "To read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."

"What's that?"

"We don't know, that's why we looked." Amara said.

Ron placed a full stop at the end of his parchment with flourish, before handing the essay back to Amara.

"Thanks!" he grinned as the bell rang.

"You gave him your essay?" Hermione asked, aghast.

"He only needed a few more inches," Amara said as they began walking to the History of Magic classroom.

"But still –" Hermione told Amara and Ron off the entire way to the lesson, with them trying to tune her out.

As always, History of Magic was the dullest of subjects. Eventhough the history of where magic started and the different lives people had interested Amara, the way Binns droned on could put anyone to sleep. He had not realised he had died, apparently, one day, he got up out of his chair and carried on teaching classes – but leaving his body behind. Amara imagined the looks of surprise the students would have got when they saw a ghost teaching them instead of their boring old professor.

Today was no different – Binns read his notes in the same monotone, making the classroom settle into a bored blanket of haze, trying not to drift off. Amara could never concentrate for very long; she ended up doodling on her notes, with Hermione clucking next to her. She exchanged amused glances with Dean, who was looking round to see the source of the clucking noise, for it sounded like a chicken. He threw a screwed up ball of paper at her.

'_Why is Hermione clucking at you?' _it read in Dean's neat handwriting. Glancing up at Binns, who was oblivious to his class (where most of them where half asleep) she wrote back.

'_I'm doodling instead of taking notes, which is impossible.'_

They had a conversation with the notes until half an hour later, where something in Binns class happened, which had probably never happened before. Hermione raised her hand.

Amara, who was writing a note to Dean, paused, and looked up in shock. Professor Binns paused in his lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, and stared at Hermione, amazed.

"Miss – er –?"

"Granger, Professor. I wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione clearly.

Dean, who was poking Amara with his quill because she was taking so long, stopped in surprise – Lavender Brown seemed to wake up suddenly and Neville's elbow slipped off the desk.

Professor Binns blinked.

"My subject is History of Magic," he wheezed "I deal with _facts_, Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He coughed and continued his lecture like nothing happened. "In September of that year, a sub-committee of Sardinian sorcerers –"

He stopped, because Hermione was waving her hand in the air again.

"Miss Grant?" he asked, clearly forgetting Hermione's name.

"Please, sir, don't all legends always have a basis in fact?"

It was obvious that Professor Binns had never, even when he was alive, had faced a student who raised their hand before.

"Well," said Binns "Yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He looked at Hermione. "However, the legend of which you speak us such a very _sensational, _even _ludicrous _tale …"

But the entire class was now waiting for him to continue. Amara was waiting for the legend to come, she was interested to know what it was – and so were the others. Nobody was sleeping anymore, all eyes on the Professor, who did not seem that he was used to all the attention he was getting.

"Oh very well," he said slowly, "let me see … the Chamber of Secrets …

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founder over a thousand years ago – the precise date is uncertain – by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."

He stopped, looked once around the room before continuing. "For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more _selective _about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle-parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy. After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Slytherin left the school."

Amara realised that this was why Gryffindors always seemed to hate Slytherins and vice versa.

"Reliable historical sources tell us this much, but these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.  
Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleashed the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."

There was silence as the class thought it through, hoping for more. Amara's mind was reeling – a secret chamber, with a horror within? What was it? And to rid the school of people unworthy to study magic? It sounded most defiantly like what a Slytherin would do, and Amara did not want it to be true. But who would make up these rumours or legends, when it _could _be true? Amara decided to talk to Hermione about it afterwards.

"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," said Binns, looking very annoyed at the eager faces around him. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

"Sir –," said Hermione, her hand in the air again. "What exactly do you mean by the 'horror within' the Chamber?"

"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns.

Amara glanced at Harry, Ron and Hermione nervously.

"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns. "There is no Chamber and no monster."

"But, sir," said Seamus, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else _would _be able to find it, would they?"

"Yeah," supplied Amara, "And they'd probably be the only people to find it too, for they'd know where to look."

"Nonsense, O'Flaherty, and you Miss Morris," said Binns "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found a thing –"

"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil "You'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it –"

"Just because a wizard _doesn't _use Dark Magic, doesn't mean he _can't, _Miss Pennyfeather," said Binns sharply. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore –"

"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't –" began Dean, but Binns cut him off."

"That will do," he snapped. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secrets broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story" We will return, if you please, to _history, _to solid, believable, verifiable _fact!"_

And that was that – Binns went straight back to his boring lecture, and the class settled, once more, into a bored stupor.

"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," said Ron after class, fighting their way through the crowds of people in the corridors, so they could drop their bags off in the common room before heading to dinner, which Amara was looking forwards too very much. "But I never know he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home …"

Amara and Hermione nodded in agreement. Amara thought of her sorting, where the Sorting Hat had told her she would never be put in Slytherin. Maybe it was because she was Muggleborn, but hopefully she wasn't as mean-spirited as all the Slytherins seemed to be. She wondered if there was a Slytherin who wasn't into all the pure-blood mania and was actually a genuine person.

For one, she was glad she wasn't in Slytherin – she would be stuck with Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

They flowed with the fast flowing stream of people, with a rush of students going the opposite way. Colin Creevey, the irritating boy, went past too.

"Hiya, Harry!"

"Hullo, Colin,"

"Harry – Harry – a boy in my class has been saying you're –"

But Colin was too small to fight the river of people sweeping him into the Great Hall. He didn't finished his sentence, instead, he just face a 'See you, Harry!' before he disappeared in the throng.

"Wonder what he was on about," said Amara as they carried on barging through. It was hard for her, being quite small, so she stayed behind Ron, because he was bigger than she was.

"That I'm Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Harry

"That's stupid," said Amara "You're not even in Slytherin," this did not help the weird facial expression Harry wore.

"People here'll believe anything," said Ron in disgust.

Luckily, the crowd thinned and they were able to climb the stairs without the trouble of being pulled away.

"D'you _really _think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," said Hermione. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be – well – human."

They turned and found themselves at the point of the attack. There was a strange sense of déjà vu, except there was no frozen cat swinging off the torch bracket. An empty chair where Filch sat was resting against the wall.

"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," said Ron.

"Can't hurt to have a poked around," said Harry after they looked at each other. Amara and Hermione walked over to the window. Amar backtracked slightly, for she saw a line of spiders were fighting to get through a crack in the window. They were hairy and had climbed a string of thread to get to the crack. Amara did not like hairy spiders, but she could deal with them in certain situations.

"Come and look at this!" said Hermione to the others. "This is funny …"

The boys came over and Ron immediately stood as far back as possible from the crack, without running away.

"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?"

"No," said Harry "Have you Amara? Ron? Ron?"

Amara shook her head, but then turned to see Ron's reaction.

"What's up?" said Harry.

"I – don't – like – spiders," said Ron.

"I never knew that," said Hermione in surprise. "You've used spiders in potions loads of times …"

"I don't mind them dead," said Ron, looking everywhere but where the hairy spiders were. "I just don't like the way they move."

Hermione giggled.

"I don't really like hairy spiders either," said Amara, "I prefer the other ones."

Ron nodded and added "It's not funny, if you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my – my teddy bear into a dirty great spider because I broke his toy broomstick. You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and …" he shuddered.

Hermione was trying not to laugh, so it seemed that Harry tried to get off the subject.

"Remember all the water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."

"It was about here," said Ron and walking so he was opposite a door, which Amara saw was Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "Level with this door."

He reached for the doorknob before retracting quickly.

"What's the matter?" said Harry.

"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly, "That's a girl's toilet."

"Its fine, Ron," said Amara walking towards the door, "This is _Moaning Myrtle's _Toilet, nobody goes in here anymore."

She ignored the large 'Out of Order' sign and once again entered the dark, damp and gloomy bathroom.

Harry was looking very put out by the area around them and Ron looked slightly disgusted.

Amara and Hermione walked quietly to the end cubicle, seeing Myrtle sitting glumly on the cistern of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin.

"Hello, Myrtle, how are you?" Hermione asked.

Myrtle saw Harry and Ron, who had come over to have a look.

"This is a _girls' _bathroom," she said suspiciously, "_They're _not girls."

"No," Hermione said "I just wanted to show them how – er – nice it is in here."

Amara nodded in agreement, before Harry mouthed something to Hermione. Amara knew this would not go down well if Myrtle saw.

"What are you whispering?" asked Myrtle.

"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask …"

"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, getting ready to cry. "I _do _have feelings, you know, even if I _am _dead."

"Myrtle – Harry didn't want to upset you, we wanted to ask –" said Amara quickly, but Myrtle cut through her answer with a howl.

"He didn't want to upset me!" she wailed "That's a good one! My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"

"We wanted to ask you if you'd seen anything funny lately," said Hermione quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Hallowe'en."

"Did you see anyone near here that night?" said Harry.

"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle theatrically. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to _kill _myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm – that I'm –"

"Already dead," said Ron helpfully.

Myrtle sobbed dramatically, rose into the air and diced head first into the toilet she had been sitting on, making the water splash all over their robes. She disappeared down the loo, still sobbing, coming to a rest in the U-bend.

Harry and Ron were looking shocked; their mouths open, looking at the toilet. Hermione shrugged and Amara said "That was pretty cheerful for Myrtle – let's get out of here, I'm starving."

They had barely closed the door of the bathroom when a loud voice made them all jump.

"RON!"

It was Percy Weasley, Ron's brother, staring at them from his place at the head of the stairs, looking shocked, his prefect badge glinting on his chest.

"That's a _girls' _bathroom," he gasped "What were _you_ –?"

"Just having a look around," said Ron nonchalantly, "Clues, you know …"

Percy swelled in indignation.

"Get – away – from – there –" he said, chivvying them along with his arms, flapping them about like a bird. "Don't you _care _what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner …"

"Why shouldn't we be here?" asked Ron furiously, "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"

"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely. "But she still seems to think you're going to be expelled; I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out. You might think of _her, _all the first-years are thoroughly over-excited about this business –"

"_You _don't care about Ginny," said Ron, his ears turning very red. Amara didn't blame him – Percy was very irritating. "_You're _just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy."

"Five points from Gryffindor!" snapped Percy, pointing at his badge, Amara rolled her eyes. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more _detective work, _or I'll write to Mum!"

And he walked away, his neck as red as Ron's ears.

Amara looked at the others, then back at Ron, who was furiously muttering curses under his breath.

"Come on, Ron," she said, pulling on his arm "let's go get dinner, don't listen to Percy – he thinks that's going to stop us?" she shook her head, before dragging Ron firmly away from the scene, Harry and Hermione following behind.

Amara, Harry, Hermione and Ron sat very far apart from Percy that night, for Ron was in a very bad temper and was trying to do his Charms homework. He somehow set his piece of parchment alight with his messed-up wand. He fumed and slammed his book – _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 _– shut which made Amara jump and blot her own homework. As she was fixing it up, she was surprised to find Hermione had followed suit – and Harry was looking very confused.

"Who could it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though they had just been having this conversation. "Who'd _want _all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?"

"Let's think," said Ron, sarcastically "Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"

Amara glanced at Harry, then at Hermione, who looked thoroughly unconvinced.

"If you're talking about Malfoy –"

"Of course I am!" said Ron "You heard him: _'You'll be next, Mudbloods!' _Come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him –"

"Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione sceptically.

"Look at his family," said Harry, finally closing his books too. "The whole lots of them have been in Slytherin, he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."

"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron "Handing it down, father to son …"

"Yeah, and Malfoy definitely would make someone – or something – else to do his dirty work for him, he'd never do it himself," said Amara

"Well," said Hermione "I suppose it's possible."

"But how do we prove it?" asked Harry.

"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice so nobody could over-hear them. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect."

"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron rather irritably, so Amara nudged him with her elbow and glared.

"All right," said Hermione coolly. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realising it's us."

"But that's impossible!" said Harry and Ron laughed.

"No, it isn't," said Amara, suddenly remembering. "We'll need to brew Polyjuice Potion."

"What's that?" asked Harry and Ron.

"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago –"

"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron, so Amara spoke over the top of him.

"If we drink it, we can transform into someone else. Imagine – the four of us could change into four Slytherins, go into the common room and ask Malfoy about it! No one would know it was us – and Malfoy, if he is the heir, will probably tell anyone _anything." _

"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said a frowning Ron. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins forever?"

"It wears off after a while," said Hermione with an impatient wave, "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called _Moste Potene Potions _and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the Library."

Amara knew that you had to have a signed permission form to get a book from the Restricted Section, and even then Madam Pince would probably get it for you, so you didn't go in yourself.

"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance …"

"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron "They'd have to be really thick…"

And then Amara, Harry and Ron exchanged knowing glances, having a perfect idea of whom they'd get the permission slip from …


	9. The Rogue Bludger

**_A/N Sorry it's so late! I was busy yesterday and Friday! Hope you enjoy - I'll try and update tomorrow_**

**_Chapter Nine_**

**_The Rogue Bludger_**

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classes with Lockhart had not been the same since the pixie incident. In fact, Lockhart had not brought anymore live creatures to the class since, which Amara was rather pleased with, for she did not want to know what he would bring that would be a one-up from pixies. The classes consisted mainly of him reading extracts from his books, and sometimes even acted them out – always picking a frustrated Harry to play some parts. Amara, for she had already read the books, and Ron, who hadn't bothered, always sat in their place at the back of the classroom trying to cover their sniggers, ignoring the appalled and slightly flustered looks from Hermione. Harry had been numerous different characters – a Transylvanian villager who had a bad case of the Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head-cold and a vampire who would only eat lettuce once Lockhart had stopped him.

In the very next lesson they had, Lockhart once again hauled Harry to the front of the room, this time making him play the part of the werewolf. Amara wondered who he picked in other classes to re-enact these parts, if he did the same thing. Amara could see that Harry was only being good because of their task at the end of the lesson.

"Nice loud howl, Harry – exactly – and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced – like this – _slammed _him to the floor – thus – with one hand, I managed to hold him down – with my other, I put my wand to his throat – I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm – he let out a piteous moan – go on, Harry – higher than that – good – the fur vanished – the fangs shrank – and he turned back into a man. Simple, yet effective – and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."

The bell suddenly rang, and Lockhart jumped up.

"Homework: compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of _Magical Me _to the author of the best one!"

Amara groaned as the class began to leave.

"How are we meant to do that?" she muttered to Ron as they met up with Harry.

"Ready?" Harry murmured.

"Wait till everyone's gone," said Hermione "All right …"

They walked up to Lockhart's desk, Hermione holding a piece of paper tightly in her hand.

"Er- Professor Lockhart?" she stammered, looking as though she was going to faint any minute "I wanted to – to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading." She held the paper out. "But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it – I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in _Gadding with Ghouls _about slow-acting venoms …"

"Ah, _Gadding with Ghouls!_" beamed Lockhart, taking the paper. "Possibly my very favourite book. You enjoyed it?"

"Oh, yes," said Hermione happily, "So clever, the way you trapped the last one with the tea-strainer …"

"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student in the year a little extra help," said Lockhart, still beaming, and taking a large peacock quill from a drawer. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, mistaking the look of revolt on Ron's face for something else. "I usually save it for book-signings."

He then wrote a ridiculously loopy signature on the paper before handing it back to Hermione, who placed it carefully in her bag.

"So, Harry," said Lockhart whilst she did it, "Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was Seeker, too. I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players …"

Amara could not take it. "Harry's the youngest player in a century, I think he'll do fine," she sniffed before leaving the classroom with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Ron congratulated Amara whilst Hermione was stern.

"Amara, that was rude, he is a teacher."

"Yeah, but he didn't even _look _at the book we wanted." said Harry as they began their route to the library.

"That's because he's a brainless git," said Ron "But who cares, we've got what we needed."

"He is _not _a brainless git," said Hermione shrilly as they half-ran to the library.

Ron replied something but Amara didn't hear, for they had entered the library, and an instant hush swept over them, the muffled noise making them quieten. They handed the note to Madam Pince, the vulture-looking librarian, ("_Moste Pontente Potions?" she said) _who tried to take the note away from Hermione.

"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said.

"Oh, come on," said Ron and wrenched it from her grasp, thrusting it at an irritable Madam Pince. "We'll get you another autograph; Lockhart will sign anything that stands still long enough."

Madam Pince held the note up to the light, trying to see if it had been forged or was a fake, but luckily she thought it was real and stalked away into the Restricted Section. They were given a very large and mouldy-looking book, which Amara shoved (carefully, under the watch of Madam Pince) in her bag before they hurried out, trying to show signs of complete innocence.

They were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom not five minutes later, having told the boys that nobody used this toilet and Amara pointed out that the girls in the castle would use this as a very last resort. Moaning Myrtle was crying in her toilet but she was ignoring them, so they ignored her too.

Amara opened the mouldy cover of _Moste Potente Potions _gingerly, for the pages were damp-spotted and yellow. They began their search for the Polyjuice Potion, and on the way found out why this was not for student's regular use. They effects some of the potions had were so very gruesome they had to turn the pages fast before they could think about it more. Unluckily there were many horrible illustrations to go with them, so they had a very good idea what happened.

Finally, they found the page headed _The Polyjuice Potion. _

The page had many drawings on them which were of people half-way through their transformations. They all looked like they were in a great deal of pain.

"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione as they read the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed and knotgrass," she murmured "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves. Ooh look, powdered horn of a Bicorn – don't know where we're going to get that… shredded skin of a Boomslang – that'll be tricky too – and of course a bit of whomever we want to change into."

"Excuse me?" said Ron rather sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whomever we're changing into? I'm drinking _nothing _with Crabbe's toenails in it …"

"We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last …"

Amara looked over the recipe too, whilst Harry voiced his worry.

"D'you realise how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione – and you Amara? Shredded skin of Boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea …"

"D'you have a better one?" snapped Amara as Hermione closed the book sharply.

"If you two are going to chicken out, fine, Amara and I will do it by ourselves. _We _don't want to break rules, you know. _We _think threatening Muggleborns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, you can leave now."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron as Amara grinned. "All right, we'll do it, but no toenails, OK?"

"How long will it take?" asked Amara as Hermione re-opened the book.

"Well, as the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon, and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days… I'd day it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."

"A month?" repeated Ron, "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggleborns in the school by then!" Hermione glared at him, so Ron continued. "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."

Amara rolled her eyes as Hermione placed the book carefully in her bag. She walked to the door to check if anyone was there, because they did not want another run in with Percy.

"C'mon," she said to the boys after checking and they made their way back up to the Common Room.

The next day dawned grey and muggy, like thunder was in the air. Amara had slept rather well – she woke up feeling fresh for a watching a game of Quidditch. She decided to wear her Gryffindor scarf and made Hermione wear one too, with the help from Parvati and Lavender.

Harry, of course, had already gone down to the Great Hall for breakfast with the team. Ron was waiting for them in the Common Room so they went down to breakfast together.

Amara saw Harry down the table, looking nervous and pale. She grinned at him and waved at Fred and George, who were, weirdly, not speaking. She helped herself to a nice breakfast, chatting happily with Ron, Neville, Dean and Seamus about the upcoming game.

"We _have _to win," said Seamus as he munched on his bacon, "Imagine Malfoy's face if we lose."

"Urgh, he won't let us forget it," groaned Amara as she buttered some toast.

Soon, eleven o'clock drew nearer, so the whole school spilled out of the castle and onto the sloping grounds, happily swarming towards the Quidditch Pitch. As it was a rather full day, many people were armed with coats and umbrellas if the weather took a turn for the worse.

Amara, Hermione and Ron wished Harry good luck outside the changing rooms before taking a seat with the other Gryffindor Second-Years in the stands.

Not ten minutes later, the Gryffindor team marched out onto the pitch clutching broomsticks, supported by the enthusiastic cheers and whoops from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, whom were voting for Gryffindor in the hope Slytherin did not win the Cup again. The Slytherins, of course, hissed and booed as the team came out, but were over-powered by the cheers.

The captains – Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint – shook hands before Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the game began.

"Welcome to the first Quidditch Match of the season!" Lee Jordan was yelling over the noise of the crowds. Amara watched as a Bludger went hurtling at Harry's head before being pelted away by George, beater's bat in hand.

The Bludger flew towards the chaser, Adrian Pucey, before changing its course back to Harry again. Amara frowned as George hit it away once again.

_That's not meant to happen _she thought as Harry streaked to the other end of the pitch, where Fred was waiting, his bat raised.

Amara had to put her hood of her coat up as big raindrops began to fall from the skit. Lee was still shouting out the scores – a depressing sixty points to zero to Slytherin.

The Bludger seemed to be fixated on Harry, for it only went for him. Amara knew that someone had done something to it – the other Bludger was acting as it should.

"Something's wrong with that Bludger," shouted Amara over the roars.

"What's going on? It keeps going back to Harry," yelled Ron, his hair fixed on his face by the rain.

Luckily, Madam Hooch let the Gryffindor team have a time out, to see what was going on. From the looks of it, Fred and George were not happy with the situation and were shouting at Wood.

"What d'you think is going to happen?" asked Amara as the Slytherins jeered. "We're being flattened by Slytherin."

"Someone's tampered with the Bludger," said Hermione, unhelpfully. "It only aims for Harry – why isn't Madam Hooch or Oliver doing something about it?"

"She can't, I suppose," said Amara, "They'd have to forfeit the game."

Madam Hooch was making her way towards the Gryffindor team.

"They haven't done anything!" said Hermione as the players flew into the air.

"I bet the Slytherins have done something," said Amara. "Look – Fred and George aren't helping him anymore, they're leaving him alone!"

It was true – the Weasley Twins were now with the rest of the team, helping them out with the other Bludger, leaving Harry to fend for himself. They did not seem happy with this, though, they kept glancing back at Harry.

Harry was obviously having a hard job keeping the mad Bludger away. He twisted and turned in the air, zig-zagging his way across the pitch. It was impossible for him to look for the snitch, what with the rain now coming down heavier than before.

Amara and Hermione gasped as he hung upside down to avoid the Bludger. The crowd were laughing, for he _did _look pretty ridiculous up there. The rest of the team were not having the best game either – but if Harry was able to catch the snitch, they'd be able to win.

Malfoy, it seemed, was not looking for the snitch either, he was hovering in the air, near the ground, laughing his head off at Harry's dilemma. Harry suddenly stopped and stared at Malfoy. The Bludger whammed straight into his elbow and Amara winced as the other Gryffindors gasped.

His right arm was now hanging uselessly at his side. Amara, Hermione and Ron watched as he dived straight at Malfoy.

"What's he doing?" Ron gasped as Malfoy shot out of the way.

"The snitch!" Amara shouted "He's seen the snitch!"

Harry used his other hand to grab something out of the air, but as his legs were now the only things left on his broom, he fell straight onto the ground.

"WE WON!" screamed Amara as Lee shouted the scores and the crowd cheered wildly. "We better go see Harry."

The three of them squeezed through the stands and sprinted onto the pitch, where a small crowd had gathered already.

Harry had obviously fainted, but was just coming round, for the rain was still pouring down, splashing onto his face. Lockhart was standing over him and Amara resisted the urge to push him out of the way.

"Oh no, not you," Harry moaned as he came to.

"Doesn't know what he's saying," said Lockhart loudly to the crowd. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."

"_No!"_ said Harry, "I'll keep it like this thanks …"

He tried to sit up as Amara heard the familiar clicking noise of a camera. Colin Creevey was standing next to her, taking hundreds of photos of Harry in the mud with a broken arm.

"I don't want a photo of this, Colin," said Harry loudly so he could hear.

"Lie back, Harry," said Lockhart. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times …"

"Why can't I just go to the hospital wing?" Harry said.

"He should really, Professor," said a very muddy Oliver Wood, who was grinning widely. "Great capture, Harry, really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say."

Amara frowned and looked around – Fred and George were trying to get the rogue Bludger back in the crate with difficulty.

Colin was still taking photos, so Ron and Amara pushed him back slightly.

"Stand back," said Lockhart, getting his wand out.

"No – don't –" said Harry but Lockhart was already twirling it and aiming his wand at his arm.

Amara and the rest of the anxious Gryffindors gasped as Harry's arm seemed to deflate before their very eyes. Something was happening inside his arm, and with a twist of the stomach, Amara knew that the spell Lockhart had used had removed Harry's bones, for it now looked like a rubber-glove.

Colin was once again taking a mad amount of photos, but Amara could not be bothered to make him stop, Harry's arm looked really gross.

"Ah," said Lockhart and Amara glared at him. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, just toddle up to the hospital wing – ah – Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, Miss Matthews, would you escort him? – and Madam Pomfrey will be able to – er – tidy you up a bit."

Amara, Hermione and Ron helped Harry to his feet so they could take him to the hospital wing, leaving the crowd of Gryffindors and Lockhart behind them.

Once they had reached the hospital wing (with Ron cursing Lockhart under his breath) Madam Pomfrey was not amused.

"You should have come straight to me!" she raged as she help Harry's useless arm. "I can mend bones in a second – but growing them back –"

"You will be able to, won't you?" said Harry desperately.

"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey, her mouth set in a firm line and throwing Harry a pair of pyjamas. "You'll have to stay the night."

Amara and Hermione waited outside the curtain that was drawn around Harry's bed as Ron helped him with his pyjamas.

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" came Ron's voice. "If Harry had wanted de-boning he would have asked."

"Anyone can make a mistake a mistake," said Hermione hotly, "And it doesn't hurt any more does it, Harry?"

"No, but it doesn't do anything else either," Harry said as Amara, Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came round the curtain.

"And this is much more effort than just having a broken arm," said Amara as she saw Harry's rubbery arm.

"You're in for a rough night," Madam Pomfrey said as she poured something called 'Skele-Gro' into a beaker. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

Harry drank the Skele-Gro, which made him cough, as Madam Pomfrey went back to her office, muttering about dangerous sports and rubbish teachers. Ron helped him drink some water before saying: "We won, though. That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face … he looked ready to kill!"

"I wonder who made that Bludger act like that," said Amara. "It must've been a hard spell for just Malfoy to do."

"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff …"

"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking." said Ron.

The rest of the Gryffindor team came bursting into the hospital wing, laden with sweets, cakes and pumpkin juice.

"Unbelievable flying, Harry," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."

They got started with the cakes and sweets before Madam Pomfrey came storming over, shouting "This boy needs rest, he's got thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! OUT!"

And so Amara, Hermione, Ron and the others hurried out of the hospital wing, moaning and grumbling, but leaving a raging Matron behind.

They went into the Common Room and sat themselves by the fire. The Gryffindor team went off to get changed and dry (because they were all very muddy) before coming back over to share the sweets and cakes.

"We want to know what happened with that Bludger," said Fred as they chatted the afternoon away, taking pity on Harry being in the hospital wing.

"It could've been the Slytherins," said Angelina Johnson.

"But they'd been locked up in Madam Hooch's office since out last practise," Wood said.

"But there must be other ways to get into a locked office," said Hermione.

"And maybe the wanted to make sure they could definitely win – what with their brooms being so good, with Harry out of the picture, they'd have a clear shot," Amara pointed out.

But they did not reach a conclusion at all, and so they dispersed to get on with things they needed to do, all wondering how Harry was getting on all alone in the Hospital wing.


	10. The Duelling Club

A/N Sorry it's late again, I'm really busy at the moment, and i have French CA Writing that i HAVE to learn by Monday, so I probably won't update Friday as i have no time to write tomorrow or any other day this week - so i hope i will be back to normal next week!

**_Chapter Ten_**

**_The Duelling Club_**

The next morning Amara woke with winter sunlight streaming on her face. She rolled over to check the time before realising Hermione had already gone down to the Common Room. She quickly pulled on some jeans and a T Shirt and jumper before going down too, seeing Ron and Hermione seated on the sofa together.

They ate a quick breakfast before heading up to the Hospital Wing to go check on Harry. On the way, they heard a whispered conversation between McGonagall and Flitwick. Not wanting to be seen and hear what they were saying, Amara, Hermione and Ron hid in an alcove while they past.

"Yes, Mr Creevey – he was found on the stairs last night," McGonagall was saying quietly, "He's been Petrified – he was on his way to see Potter, I expect."

Amara glanced at Ron and Hermione's horrified faces as the two whispering Professors passed their hiding place.

"Colin's been Petrified?" Amara whispered.

"Whatever it was, we better find out soon – d'you think Harry would mind if we started the Potion today?" asked Hermione

"No," said Amara, shaking her head. "We really need to start now – Ron and I will go to the student cupboard and get the stuff we need – can you go get the book from our dorm? We'll meet you there."

After hurrying down to the student's cupboard, Amara, Ron and Hermione made their way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to start the potion. They had decided to use the bathroom to hide it, because nobody but Myrtle was ever in there.

Hermione conjured up a waterproof fire that they placed the old cauldron they found (Amara checked for holes) on top of it. Moaning Myrtle was ignoring them again as they started making the potion, _Moste Pontente Potions _perched on the top of the toilet so they could read it. They had locked the door and were quite crowded in the cubicle, and Amara wondered if they would be able to move once Harry found them.

Not half an hour later they heard the door open. They looked at each other nervously before Harry's voice came through. Hermione dropped the ladle they were using to stir it into the potion with a splash and a gasp.

Amara peered through the keyhole of the door to see Harry standing there, his arm fixed.

"_Harry!" _Amara squealed "Is your arm OK? You made us jump – thought you were Filch or something."

"It's fine," said Harry, also joining them in the cubicle, which now made it nearly impossible for them to move.

"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion," Ron explained as Amara and Hermione examined the recipe. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."

"Colin Creevey was Petrified –" began Harry

"We already know," said Hermione "We heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going –"

"I want to see if it's Malfoy," said Amara as she took some knotgrass and began tearing it up to put in the cauldron.

"D'you know what I think?" Ron snarled "I think he was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."

"It wouldn't surprise me," said Amara, stirring the potion carefully.

"There's something else," said Harry, "Dobby came to visit me in the middle of the night."

Amara looked up from the potion and stared.

"Yeah, _he _was the one who set the Bludger on me, and he was the one to seal the barrier at Kings Cross. He says he's trying to send me home – for my own safety. He also said it was because Hogwarts isn't safe when history is repeating itself. So Dobby knows something about the Chamber – which is actually _real _and it has been opened – that's what Dumbledore said too."

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened _before?" _Hermione said.

"This settles it," said Ron triumphantly. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he'd told dear old Draco how to do it. It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking round the school."

"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione as she carried on with the potion. "Or maybe it can disguise itself – pretend to be a suit of armour or something. I've read about Chameleon Ghouls …"

"You read too much, Hermione," said Ron, adding the lacewing flies. "So, Dobby stopped us getting the train and broke your arm … You know what Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your live he's going to kill you."

-OOOOOO-

Colin Creevey's attack did not stay quiet for long. The whole school knew by Monday morning that he was lying in the Hospital Wing, as though he was dead. Everyone was now suspicious, with rumours flying around the place. The first-years were now moving around in packs, as though something might happen if they go out alone.

Ginny was suffering too – because she sat next to Colin in charms. Amara wondered if she was that close to Colin, because she'd never seen her talk to him, nor hang around him. It was odd, but Amara bypassed it when she found out how Fred and George were trying to make her feel better.

They took turns to jump out at her from statues, their faces covered with fur or boils. Once, when Amara was walking with Ginny and it happened she jumped in shock. She then proceeded to yell herself hoarse to make them stop. They did immediately, and from the way Ron was laughing when they saw them in the Common Room later that night, Fred and George had been rather shocked at how much she could shout.

Meanwhile, without the teachers' knowledge, an enormous trade was blossoming in talismans, amulets and protective devices. Amara knew none of them would work, and they didn't point this out to Neville, who had bought a stinky onion, a purple crystal and a rotted newt's tail, before he knew this, because he was scared he was going to be attacked for him being nearly a Squib.

Amara's birthday could not have been at a worse time of the year. It was the same week of Colin's attack, so everyone was still scared someone else was going to be attacked. She still enjoyed herself though, receiving presents from various friends and family (which included Jesse, Noah and Tally sending a picture of them all in France from the summer, which she put on her bedside table). She also received a card from Fred and George, who seemed to be trying to apologise, which she said wasn't necessary, because she had already forgiven them. They had beamed at this and forgiven her too for shouting at them, but said it was better her doing it than Percy, because they didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being able to control them.

-OOOOOO-

December arrived and Professor McGonagall came around collecting names for people staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. Amara felt a little guilty when she signed up with Harry, Ron and Hermione, because she hadn't seen her family, but it was the perfect opportunity to use the Polyjuice Potion- because Malfoy was staying over the holidays too.

The Potion, however, was only half-finished, and they still needed the Bicorn Horn and the Boomslang skin, which was vital if they wanted it to work. The only place available for these ingredients was Snape's private stores, and that seemed to be impossible.

"What we need," said Hermione as their double potions lesson loomed nearer. "is a diversion. Then one or two of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need."

"I think Amara or I should do the stealing," said Hermione "You two," she said to Harry and Ron. "Will be expelled if you get in anymore trouble, and we've got a clean record."

"This year, so far," pointed out Amara, to which Hermione glared at her for.

"All you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape buy for five minutes or so."

They decided to make Harry do the diversion and to have Amara get all the ingredients, because as Ron said 'she is small enough to get out the class unseen, even without a diversion.' This made Amara glare and dig him in the ribs, but agree to do it anyway.

Thursday's Potion lesson did not come quickly enough. Amara was a jumble of nerves by the time she arrived, but she composed herself whilst inside the lesson so she could concentrate on her Swelling Solution, which was going rather well considering the circumstances. She did not want Snape to think something was up if her potion was unsatisfactory. Snape was his usual self – biting out horrible remarks about all the Gryffindor's potions and complementing even Goyle's potion with the Slytherins. He always compared them to Malfoy's potions too, eventhough Hermione's was always better (and sometimes Amara's.)

Snape made no comment on Amara's potion as he passed, but he sneered at Harry's poor attempt to thicken his. Amara saw Hermione give a swift nod as he went away to bully Neville. Amara tensed as Harry retrieved the firework they had somehow got off of Fred and George out of his bag. He took aim and threw, giving the desired effect of an explosion. Amara quickly slipped out of the room when everyone's attention was on Goyle's cauldron and ran to Snape's private stores.

The stores were in his office, and Amara unlocked the door with _Alohamora _before entering. Hermione had taught her the locking spell so she'd be able to lock it up again.

She tiptoed quickly across the room, the thought of Snape bursting in in her mind at all times. She opened the door to the stores and swiftly grabbed all the ingredients they needed for the potion, before sprinting out and locking the door. She slipped back inside the dungeon and saw that most of the class were standing by Snape's desk swigging the antidote. She shoved the ingredients in her bag before straightening up and pretending to look innocent as Snape withdrew the mangled remains of the firework from the cauldron.

"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered to the silent class. "I shall _make sure _that person is expelled."

He was looking at Harry the entire time, and Harry told them he knew it was him as they were running to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after the class.

"Snape can't prove it was you," said Ron as Amara emptied the ingredients into the potion and stirred it quickly.

"It'll be ready in a fortnight," said Amara happily as Harry finished his reply.

-OOOOOO-

A week later, Amara, Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves walking across the Entrance Hall when they saw a small crowd of people huddled around the notice-board, reading the piece of parchment that had been pinned up recently. Dean and Seamus, who were there already, beckoned them over.

"They're starting a Duelling Club," said Seamus excitedly. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind duelling lessons, they might come in handy one of these days …"

"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron but he still read the parchment with the rest of them in interest.

"It would be good," said Amara after reading the parchment. "Shall we go too?"

Ron, Harry and Hermione agreed eagerly, so at eight o'clock they left the common room and went into the Great Hall, where it was being held. The four house tables had gone, and instead there was a golden stage along one wall with a load of floating candles floating over the top, lightening it up and making the gold gleam.

Most of the school were there, eagerly waiting for the Club to begin, wands in hand and chatting to their friends.

"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the noisy crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a duelling champion when he was young, maybe it'll be him."

"As long as it's not –" Harry began but stopped at a groan. Lockhart was making his way onto the golden stage, wearing robes of deep plum and grinning at the squealing girls in the crowd. Behind him, was Snape.

"You'd think they'd be used to Lockhart by now," said Amara before Lockhart called for silence.

"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!  
Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Duelling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions – for full details, see my published works.  
Let me introduce my assistant Professor Snape, he tells me he knows a tiny little bit about duelling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry – you'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"

Amara snorted "I bet even Neville could go against him."

"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered after the chuckled.

Amara smirked again as Snape's lip started to curl. She knew that Lockhart had no chance now, if she was against Snape, she would be far from smiling.

Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed, Lockhart doing an elaborate twirl and Snape jerking his head stiffly. They raised their wands like swords in front of them.

"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," said Lockhart to the crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course.

"One – Two – Three –"

Snape immediately cried "_Expelliarmus!" _before Lockhart had even uttered a single word. He got blasted backwards off his feet from a shock of red light. He flew off the stage and smashed into a wall.

As some of the Slytherins cheered, Hermione squealed and danced on her tiptoes "Do you think he's all right?" she squeaked.

"Who cares?" Amara, Ron and Harry chorused.

Lockhart's hair was on end as he stood shakily to his feet.

"Well there you have it!" he said, hurrying back onto the stage. "That was a Disarming Charm – as you can see, I've lost my wand – ah, thank you, Miss Brown. Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop it would have been only too easy. However, I felt it would be instructive to let them see …"

He trailed off after seeing Snape's evil face. Instead he said "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me …"

They moved swiftly through the crowd, matching people up and eventhough Lockhart managed to get Neville and Justin Finch-Fletchley together, Snape reached Amara, Hermione, Harry and Ron first.

"Time to split up the dream teams, I think," said Snape "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan – Potter you can go with Mr Malfoy."

Amara shifted slightly over to Hermione.

"I don't think so," he smirked. "Miss Bulstrode, come here and partner with Miss Granger, and Miss Parkinson, you can partner Miss Matthews."

As Malfoy strutted over, Amara saw two girls following behind. One was pug-faced Pansy, and the other looked like a female version of Crabbe and Goyle – large, square and aggressive.

"Parkinson," Amara said scathingly.

"Matthews," Pansy said back, with just as much venom.

"Face your partners!" called Lockhart. "And bow!"

Amara jerked her head forwards, not letting her eyes leave Pansy's face, for fear of getting a surprise attack. One look into her eyes, and Amara knew that this was not going to be the duel Lockhart wanted.

"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart and Amara raised her wand. "When I count to there, cast you charms to disarm you opponent – _only _to disarm them – we don't want any accidents. One … two … three …"

Amara was just about to yell as spell when Pansy threw a ticking jinx at her. She doubled up and yelled. "_Locomotor Mortis!"_

Pansy's legs froze together so she fell forwards unexpectedly.

Pansy furiously threw another tickling jinx at her, which was all she seemed to be able to do.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Amara yelled.

Pansy's wand flew in an arch above their heads and landed in a clatter in front of Amara.

"_I said disarm only!" _ Lockhart shouted, rather alarmed.

Looking furious, Pansy started forwards to get it, but Amara got there first. She grabbed the wand and was about to throw it away when Pansy grabbed her ankle and pulled, making her fall to the ground. Pansy tried to get on top to get her in a headlock, but Amara kicked her in the stomach and rolled away.

"Stop! Stop!" yelled Lockhart.

"_Finite Incantatem!" _Snape shouted and everyone's spells stopped.

Amara looked around from where she was sitting, Pansy still on the floor in pain. There was a greenish smoke in the air and Neville and Justin were lying on the floor with an ashen-faced Seamus standing near them being held up by Ron, who was apologising. Hermione was caught in a head lock with Millicent Bulstrode, so Amara and Harry ran over and pulled her off (Amara tripping her over backwards).

"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, looking through the crowds. "Up you get, MacMillan … careful there Miss Fawcett … pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second, Boot …  
I think I'd better teach you how to _block _unfriendly spells," he said "Let's have a volunteer pair – Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you?"

"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, who glided over like an evil bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville went pink. "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart and making Harry and Malfoy get into the middle of the Hall. Amara and the rest of the crowd backed away to give them space.

Amara walked over to a spot with Hermione, Ron, Seamus and Dean (because Seamus still needed to be held up). Pansy and Millicent, after one last glare hurried off to stand with the other Slytherins.

Harry walked up to the middle of the room, opposite Malfoy. Snape and Lockhart went to them, Snape talking quickly into Malfoy's ear and Lockhart trying to demonstrate something with his wand and failing.

"You alright, Seamus?" asked Amara as Lockhart, Snape, Harry and Malfoy were talking.

Seamus nodded and Ron handed him over to Dean.

"Three – Two – One – GO!" Lockhart shouted.

Malfoy immediately raised his wand and yelled "_Serpensortia!"_

Amara gasped as a snake shot out of his wand and fell onto the floor, ready to strike. Amara moved with the crowd backwards away from the evil snake.

"Don't move, Potter," said Snape, obviously rather amused when watching Harry freeze and need him to help him. "I'll get rid of it …"

"Allow me!" Lockhart suddenly shouted. He flourished is wand and with a loud bang, the snake was thrown into the air, hissing and snapping before smacking down onto the floor again, this time fangs poised. It edged towards Justin Finch-Fletchley.

Then Harry came up to it and opened his mouth. It was not English words that came out, but a mixture of hisses and snarls, which sounded as though he was egging it on. The snake slumped to the floor and stopped moving towards Justin.

Amara was shocked, she didn't know what it was that Harry did, but she knew by the way Justin shouted at him and stormed out of the Hall that it was not normal.

Snape got out his wand and vanished the snake in a puff of black smoke. He was staring at Harry to, and the people in the Hall were muttering about him.

She saw Ron hurry up to him and tug his robes, making him get out of the Great Hall quickly. Hermione and Amara followed swiftly behind them. The people they passed moved out their way as they walked, as though Harry had something contagious that nobody wanted to get.

Nobody spoke until they had reached the common room and Ron had pushed him into an armchair.

"You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" said Harry.

"_A Parselmouth!" _said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!"

Amara gaped at this, true, Harry did sound like the snake in the Hall, but she didn't think it was a thing someone could do.

"I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it. I accidently set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once – long story – but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to. That was before I knew I was a wizard …"

"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" said Ron.

"So? I bet loads of people here can do it."

"No they can't," said Ron. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."

"What's bad?" said Harry looking angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin –"

"Oh, that's what you said to it?"

"What d'you mean? You were there … you heard me."

"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything. No wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was creepy, you know."

Harry's mouth fell open.

"I spoke a different language? But – I didn't realise – how can I speak a different language without knowing I can speak it?"

Ron shook his head. Amara was very confused, for they were both looking as though something terrible had happened.

"What's _wrong _with being able to talk to snakes?" asked Amara. "If it stopped Justin from getting his head bitten off, then it's a good thing to have done!"

"It's wrong," said Hermione quietly. "Because being able to talk to snakes is what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent."

Amara gaped at this piece of knowledge.

"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandson or something …"

"But I'm not," said Harry

"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione, "He lived about a thousand years ago. For all we know, you could be."

-OOOOOOO-

"How can Harry be the heir of Slytherin?" asked Amara as they got ready for bed that night, whilst Sophie, Parvati and Lavender were still in the common room.

"I don't know," said Hermione. "Family trees could be very big."

"But Harry's a _Gryffindor," _said Amara, pointing out the obvious. "If he was the 'heir of Slytherin' then he'd be in Slytherin!"

"Not necessarily," said Hermione, looking sad.

"I don't think it's all that bad, you know," said Amara "Because it can't just be Salazar Slytherin who could talk to snakes, and I truly doubt that Harry is the heir – and the person responsible."

"I don't think he is either!" said Hermione quickly.

"Then stop acting as though someone's died," snapped Amara. "The school can think whatever the hell they want to – we know it's not true."

And with that, she went into bed rather forcefully, ignoring Hermione, and pulled the covers up to her chin, facing away from her and out of the window.

She didn't go to sleep though, even when Hermione went to bed too, and when the three other girls came up. She felt slightly bad about snapping at Hermione, but she _was _making her peeved when she looked like someone had died. She felt that the school would definitely believe that Harry was the heir now, not only because he could speak to snakes, but because the person and cat that had been Petrified both got on his nerves. The odds were definitely not in his favour, and the rumours that spread around Hogwarts were not the nicest of things.

-OOOOOO-

A blizzard of snow had swept over Hogwarts during the night and had continued all morning. This meant that they were unable to attend their last Herbology lesson of the term, because the snow was so thick. Also, the Mandrakes, Professor Sprout had told them, needed to have socks and scarves and this job could not be done by anyone else, because the Mandrakes needed to grow so they could revive Mrs Norris and Colin.

Harry was fretting over what happened with Justin the day before in front of the Gryffindor fire in the common room whilst Hermione and Ron were playing chess, so Amara, getting bored, stalked off to the library to clear her mind and get a book for her to read in the Christmas holidays. Amara had already sent off her presents for her family, because she wanted them to get there in plenty of time and didn't want Archimedes to get lost. Tessie had written her a letter, expressing her sadness of how she wasn't spending Christmas with them. Amara had felt very guilty, and wrote back saying she would stay with them next year, if she could.

She walked through the aisles of the library, noting that only a few seventh years and a group of Hufflepuffs from their year in there. Realising she had no idea what she was looking for, because she just wanted some light reading, she wandered around for a bit, ending up in the Invisibility section. Not five minutes later, Harry made her jump by appearing in the same section. She was about to say something when he pressed his hand over her mouth and pointed to a gap in the books. Because she was too short, she had to peer through the lower shelf with Harry above her. He was listening to the Hufflepuffs, who Amara realised were talking about him.

"So anyway," a stout boy was saying to about six Hufflepuffs. "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to Potter he was Muggleborn. Justin actually _told _him he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heir on the loose, is it?"

"You definitely think it _is _Potter, then, Ernie?" said Hannah Abbott, her hair in her normal high blonde pigtails.

"Hannah," said Ernie. "He's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."

The Hufflepuffs muttered to themselves and Amara frowned at them. She knew some of them to be very nice, but they were being very stupid at the moment, and this Ernie guy was _not _helping.

"Remember what was written on the wall?" asked Ernie. "_Enemies of the Heir Beware._ Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first-year, Creevey, was annoying Potter at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of him whilst he was lying in the mud. Next thing we know, Creevey's been attacked."

"He always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly. "And, well, he's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. He can't be all bad, can he?"

Ernie lowered his voice dramatically so the Hufflepuffs formed a tighter group, Amara and Harry edging slightly forwards so they could hear as well.

"No one knows how he survived that attach by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark Wizard could have survived a curse like that." He dropped his voice even more, meaning Amara was struggling to hear him. "_That's _probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord _competing _with him. I wonder what powers Potter's been hiding?"

Amara was outraged by this – how could the boy say that about Harry? She decided she did not like this Hufflepuff at all. It was only because of the situations Harry had been in – how could he have _Dark Powers. _She glared as she thought about how Ernie accused Harry of being a second _Voldemort, _when Harry was the reason he was gone and not terrorising the entire country!

She was so angry she did not realise Harry had brushed passed her and walked up to the Hufflepuffs, who looked terrified.

She stopped glaring and stared at Harry in surprise, not moving from her space. She had been glaring at them for so long, she nearly did not notice Harry turning on his heel and stalking out of the library.

Amara threw one last glare at the Hufflepuffs, eventhough she knew they didn't know she was there, and hurried out of the library, Madam Pince chasing her out with her polish and rag.

She ran up the corridor desperately. She could not see Harry anywhere, but as she neared the end, she saw the ginormous figure of Hagrid shuffling down towards her. He was holding something in his hands.

"Hello Amara," he said as she ran up to him.

"Hey Hagrid," she said breathlessly, "Have you seen Harry? He was running out the library."

"Yeah," said Hagrid, flinging the thing in his hands in the direction ahead of her. "He wen' down there, he looked really hot an' bothered – d'you know why?"

"Annoying Hufflepuffs," said Amara, "What's that, anyways Hagrid?" she pointed at the thing in his hand.

"Rooster," said Hagrid. "Second one dead this term, I'm asking Professor Dumbledore if I can pu' a charm aroun' the hen-coop."

Amara nodded, "I better go see where Harry is," she said and with a quick wave, she hurried on her way up the corridor.

She turned to go up the stairs and up another corridor. This corridor was darker than the others, but she could make out Harry stood still in the middle of it. Amara frowned, tightening her robes round her as an icy draught swept through the corridor.

"Harry!" she said and hurried towards him.

"Amara, watch out!" he croaked, but Amara did not stop in time, she fell over something lying on the ground, which was what Harry was looking at.

"Ow!" she said and turned over onto her bum. "Oh_ no!"_

Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and frozen, a look of pure horror etched onto his face. Looking up Amara saw Nearly Headless Nick floating aimlessly about, his head half off and his usual pale appearance replaced by black smoke.

"How on _earth," _said Amara just as Peeves the poltergeist shot out of a classroom.

"Why, it's potty wee Potter and mad Matthews," he cackled at his joke. "What are they up to? Why are they alone in a –"

He froze as he saw Justin and Nick halfway through a somersault.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" he bellowed, once he had flipped the right way.

Amara sat on the floor as all around her classroom doors bounced back on their hinges with loud crashes. She winced as people flooded out into the dark corridor, silent as they gazed at the scene before them. Then everyone started yelling at once, people nearly stepping on Amara and a frozen Justin. Amara leapt to her feet as McGonagall's class came across the scene. For a strange reason, a boy had black and white striped hair, which Amara would've found funny if the situation wasn't so serious.

Not seconds later, Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs came running up.

"_Caught in the act!" _Ernie yelled dramatically, pointing his finger at Harry, his face paper white.

"That will do, Macmillan!" Professor McGonagall snapped. Peeves was floating about the crowds, beaming widely about the whole situation, in fact, he broke into song when the teachers examined Justin and Nick.

"_Oh Potter, you rotter, oh what have you done?  
You're killing off students, you think it's good fun –" _he sang

"That's enough Peeves," McGonagall barked at him and Peeves zoomed away, cackling.

Professor Sinistra and Professor Flitwick carried Justin up the hospital wing, but nobody knew what to do with Nearly Headless Nick. Professor McGonagall conjured up a large fan and gave it to Amara, and told her to waft him up the stairs and into the hospital wing too, for 'safe keeping'.

Amara took the fan and began fanning Nick away from the scene, casting an apologetic look to Harry, who was alone with Professor McGonagall.

The journey up to the hospital wing was uneventful but Amara was jumpy and was scared the monster that attacked Nick and Justin would strike again. The students she passed on the way there stood still in shock and Amara knew she was going to be late for Transfiguration. She managed to manoeuvre Nearly Headless Nick up the staircases and corridors, one time she nearly lost him when a gust of wind swept through the corridor from the windows and made him float the opposite way.

Madam Pomfrey was dealing with Justin when she walked in, laying him on a bed at the far end of the room, next to Colin Creevey. She was also pulling curtains around him, but stopped once she saw Amara and a motionless Nearly Headless Nick.

"Oh my _goodness!_" she shrieked rather loudly, making Amara jump. "What on earth did this?"

"I don't know," said Amara, "They were found in the same place."

Madam Pomfrey conjured a fan of her own and began wafting Nearly Headless Nick away, but stopped once she realised she had no idea what to do with him.

"We'll have to put him in this closet," she said decidedly, "It's roomy in there."

Amara helped waft the black smoke of Nick into the roomy closet at the back of the room and helped shut the door.

"You better get to class now," Madam Pomfrey said. "You're quite late."

Amara nodded and backtracked quickly out of the hospital wing. She was grateful she had brought her bag with her books with her, considering it would be another long walk if she didn't.

There was only about twenty minutes left of Transfiguration by the time she got there, and by a glance, Amara knew Harry was not back. She ignored the inquisitive looks from her classmates and hurried down to sit with Ron and Hermione, who looked very worried. McGonagall gave her a little nod before continuing her lesson, eventhough the events that had just occurred were fresh in their minds.


	11. The Polyjuice Potion

**_A/N Hey guys, I'm back! :) I did my French on Monday, so I am now free from that (I have History though - sigh!) and can update normally again! I would've updated Monday, but I found out I have caught myself up with chapters, so I have literally just finished this one! Sorry if there's any mistakes - doesn't a Beta or something check for that? I don't really know much about them - anyways - Enjoy! R&R_**

**_Chapter Eleven_**

**_The Polyjuice Potion_**

Amara did not have the chance to tell Ron and Hermione about the attack on Justin and Nick – for they found out before they had even left the Transfiguration corridor for lunch.

"_Nearly Headless Nick _has been Petrified?" Ron said aghast as they met the swarming crowd, all of whom were talking about the attack and casting frightened glances everywhere.

"That can't be good," said Hermione worriedly as they entered the Great Hall. "What sort of monster can attack a _ghost? _They shouldn't be able to – they're already dead!"

This had been Amara's fear too – if Nick could be Petrified, so could anyone.

Over the last few days, the school was in a panic. Many students who had opted to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas nearly killed each other trying to get McGonagall to sign their names off. Amara was hesitant about staying, but she knew she had to, because they could find out if Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin. Amara decided to not walk the corridors alone anymore, and always stick by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Harry had been to see the Headmaster about what happened with Justin, but apparently Dumbledore knew it wasn't him, so he was in no trouble.

Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy were still staying at Hogwarts, because whatever Malfoy did, Crabbe and Goyle were likely to follow. Amara did not want to be stuck in a castle with three Slytherins for company over Christmas, and as Ron had said "At this rate, we'll be the only ones left. Us, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. What a jolly Holiday it's going to be."

Harry had worse problems, for students were still skirting him in the corridors, throwing him frightened looks as they passed. At least, Fred and George didn't think it was sad – in fact, they found it very funny indeed.

They marched Harry down the corridors, making the students press against the walls.

"Make way for the heir of Slytherin, seriously evil wizard coming through …"

"It is _not _a laughing matter," Percy scolded them.

"Oh get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry's in a hurry."

"Yeah, he's nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with his fanged servant," said George sniggering.

Ginny, it seemed, did not like it either. Amara was slightly worried about her, she still looked strangely peaky and looked worried about everything. She had talked to her a few times but hadn't been able to ask if she was OK yet. Whenever Amara looked around to see if she was in the common room Ginny was seen in a corner writing in the slim black book that she seemed to carry around everywhere.

"Oh, _don't,_" she wailed when Fred and George did their act, like asking Harry if he was going to attack another person, or warding him away. Amara thought it was quite funny, because it took her mind to a lighter side of things.

Draco Malfoy seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed at their antics as well, which Amara was pleased to see.

"It's because he's _bursting _to say it's really him," said Ron. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."

"Yes, but the Polyjuice Potion is nearly ready, now isn't it?" Amara said. "We'll get it out of him soon."

-OOOOOO-

Once the end of term arrived, the crowded corridors emptied, the common room was deserted and the noise of the castle muffled. Amara did not mind that nobody was there, for she, Harry, Hermione and the Weasley's had free run of Gryffindor Tower to do whatever they wanted – which Percy disapproved of, staying in his dorm instead of joining in their fun. He didn't go to Egypt with Mr and Mrs Weasley because he thought it was his duty to stay at Hogwarts, and Fred, George and Ginny had decided to stay too. Amara made Ginny feel better by inviting her to do everything they did, which finally got her to smile and giggle a bit. They played Exploding Snap loudly, had pretend sword fights with different things and had a massive battle, which was Amara's idea, with two teams (Hermione did not join in) that was: Amara, Harry and Fred Vs George, Ron and Ginny. They couldn't decide the winner because Fred and George kept switching places and confusing everyone.

Amara woke to a snow covered Christmas and Hermione opening presents. Amara liked her haul of presents: she got a hand-knitted jumper from Mrs Weasley, which was a bright, Christmassy red; a star charm for her bracelet from Hermione; a copy of the book: _Holyhead Harpies, _her favourite Quidditch team from Harry and Ron along with some sweets; a scented candle smelling of orange from Ginny; a collection of classic wizard books from the Reynolds; some expensive jewellery from her family and some more sweets.

After they had gotten through their presents, Amara and Hermione pulled on their clothes and hurried down to Moan Myrtle's bathroom before Amara had even brushed her hair properly.

The potion was doing nicely – it was what the book's instructions said it should be. They added even more lacewings from their little jar on the top of the toilet. The potion bubbled like mud when they stirred it and Amara wrinkled her nose.

"It's ready," said Hermione after an hour longer.

"Really? So – d'you think we'll do it tonight?" Amara asked excitedly, but still not looking forwards to drinking the foul looking potion. She hoped it tasted nice than it looked.

Hermione nodded. "Shall we wake the boys up? We'll have to tell them."

"Yes," said Amara and they began their ascent (after wishing Myrtle a Merry Christmas, which she wailed at) to the seventh floor. "But how are we going to get the hairs from Crabbe and Goyle? I've got mine, I managed to pull some out of Pansy's hair when we did that duelling club – I put it in my phials, it's really gross, I can't wait to get rid of it."

"I don't know," said Hermione thoughtfully, "I have got mine too, it's in my trunk. It would be easy to knock Crabbe and Goyle out for a few hours, because we could put a potion in their food or something – we can go to the supply cupboard, there's bound to be a spare bottle of sleeping draught somewhere."

"If we put it in some cakes or something, we can wait until they see them and obviously they'll eat it. We only need an hours' worth – that's how long the potion will last, right?"

Hermione nodded as they reached the seventh floor. "We'll get it tonight."

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" yelled Amara when they went into the room where Harry and Ron were sleeping. "WAKE UP!"

"_AMARA!" _Ron shouted from beneath his covers as Hermione pulled back the curtains.

"Merry Christmas!" Amara said,

"Amara – Hermione – you're not meant to be in here!" Ron said, ignoring her.

"Merry Christmas!" said Hermione throwing their presents at them. Amara followed suit. "We've been up for more than an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."

Harry sat up quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," said Amara, sitting at the edge of Ron's bed as he got all his presents up. "If we're going to do it soon, I think we should do it tonight."

Hedwig flew into the room, a small package clamped in her beak.

"Hello," said Harry, "Are you speaking to me again?"

Amara watched the two boys open their presents, which included the annual Weasley jumper that Amara was wearing ("Maroon – _again!"_ Ron groaned) and started her Christmas day.

-OOOOOO-

Amara was astounded by the magnificent looking Great Hall when they went down for Christmas lunch. There were streamers of holly and mistletoe criss-crossing its way across the ceiling; a dozen Christmas trees were set up around the hall, covered in magical frost; snow was falling from the ceiling, warm and dry, which made the place look magical. Dumbledore got them all to sing his favourite carols – Hagrid booming louder and louder after every goblet of egg nog he consumed. They all kept sniggering at Percy, who's Prefect badge now read 'Pinhead', which was Fred's doing, and he kept demanding what was so funny. Amara ignored the nasty comments Malfoy said about their new jumpers, because she knew he was jealous and they would get him back later.

Amara, Harry and Ron were ushered out the hall by Hermione before they'd even finished their pudding, to finalise the happenings of that night.

"We still need a bit of what you two are changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly to Harry and Ron, "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe and Goyle's; they're Malfoy's best friends, he'll tell them anything. And we also need to make sure the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him.  
I've got it all worked out," she carried on, after seeing Harry and Ron's faces. She held up the two plump chocolate cakes that she and Amara had filled with sleeping draught that afternoon. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom cupboard."

"And get the right people too –," Amara interjected. "You don't want to get some random people – that would be an awkward conversation."

Harry and Ron stared at each other.

"Hermione, I don't think –"

"That could go seriously wrong –"

"The potion won't work," said Amara exasperatedly, "D'you think we'd ask if it wasn't needed? We need it or else we can't investigate Malfoy!"

"Oh all right, all right," said Harry. "But what about you guys? Whose hair are you ripping out?"

"We've got ours!" said Amara, getting hers out of her pocket. "It was lucky we had Slytherins at the duelling club – I managed to pull some of Pansy's hair out and Hermione got some of Millicent on her robes. They both went home for Christmas too – we can just say we've forgotten something or we've decided to come back.

Amara and Hermione then went off to check the potion, leaving a stupefied Harry and Ron behind them.

-OOOOOO-

After Christmas tea that day, Amara and Hermione went up to the laundry and sneaked some spare Slytherin robes, one for Harry, one for Ron and the other two for her and Hermione, because the Slytherins they were turning into were not exactly pixies. They also wished Harry and Ron good luck in the entrance hall and hurried off to check the potion again.

Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was as blank and dreary as ever, and their potion was treacle thick.

When Amara began to stir it again, it issued huge clouds of black smoke that covered their eye sight so it was difficult to see. Hermione had gotten four glass tumblers and placed them on the toilet seat, ready to use.

"Amara? Hermione?"

Ron and Harry were standing out the door, breathless and shiny-faced.

"Did you get them then?" Amara asked as she continued to stir it.

Harry showed them the hair and Amara grinned, but was slightly repulsed by it.

"I'm sure we've done everything right," said Hermione anxiously. "It looks exactly what the book says … once we've drunk it, we have exactly and hour before we change back into ourselves."

"Now what?" Ron said.

"We separate it into four glasses and add the hairs,"

Hermione placed large dollops of the potion into each glass, the potion bubbling and thick.

She then got Millicent Bulstrode's hair and added it into the potion. It hissed fiercely and frothed before turning a sick coloured yellow.

"Ew," said Amara. "That looks _disgusting."_

"Add yours, then."

Harry dropped Goyle's hair and Ron dropped Crabbe's. Harry's turned into a bogey colour and Crabbe's a dark brown. Amar gulped and dropped Pansy's hair into the potion. It hissed and frothed and then turned into a gross coloured grey potion.

"Hang on," said Harry as they were about to drink. We'd better not all drink them in here: once we turn into Crabbe and Goyle, we won't fit. And Pansy and Millicent are no pixies.

"Good thinking," said Ron opening the door. "We'll take separate cubicles."

Amara stepped out and went into the one next to it.

"Ready?" Harry's voice called.

"Ready," Amara, Ron and Hermione said together.

"One … Two … Three …"

Amara downed the potion quickly, gagging at the disgusting taste of it. She then doubled over, because it felt as though her insides were now snakes, writhing and squiggling about. Amara thought she was going to be sick – the potion was really disgusting. It wasn't the worst of it though; she felt a hot burning sensation flash through her body, making her trip into the wall. She felt as though she was being melted, her body bubbling into nothingness. Then, her fingers began to become slightly thicker, her face squashing up and her hair shortening. She felt her getting slightly taller and fatter, her feet stretching in her small shoes.

And then it ended and Amara struggled down to the floor, gasping for breath. She was sweating all over and she kicked her shoes and robes off quickly, shoving on the ones she'd bought down.

"Harry? Ron? Hermione?" she asked, and squeaked when Pansy's high pitched whiny voice cackled out.

"Are you alright?" Goyle's raspy voice sounded out.

"Yes," said Amara and Crabbe's grunt came as well. She unlocked the door and stepped out, gazing at herself in the mirror.

"Wow," said Amara as Harry and Ron came out too. "It actually worked!"

"This is unbelievable," said Ron, "_Unbelievable!"_

"We'd better get going," said Harry – or – Goyle, "We've still got to find where the Slytherin common room is, I only hope we can find someone to follow."

Amara started giggling at Goyle's expression but stopped once she heard Pansy's horrible shrill giggle.

"Where's Hermione?" she asked instead. She went over and banged on the door. "Hermione, we're wasting time!"

"I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."

Amara looked worriedly at Harry and Ron.

"You look constipated," said Ron. "It's not nice."

"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you."

"No – really – I don't think I'll come. You three hurry up, Amara's right, you're wasting time."

Amara shook her head.

"C'mon," she said and they hurried out of the bathroom – Amara checking the coast was clear before going out.

Harry was muttering something to Ron, but Amara ignored it, deciding to play Pansy better, and walking slightly in front. They went down the marble staircase.

"Any ideas?" Harry said.

"The Slytherin's always come up to breakfast from over there," Ron said. A girl with curly hair emerged from it, and Amara recognised her as a Ravenclaw who hung around in the library.

"No!" she hissed as Ron opened his mouth. "She's a _Ravenclaw."_

Ron flushed and the Ravenclaw looked at them with a quizzical expression.

They walked down the stone steps and into the darkly lit corridor. They were in a labyrinth of dark tunnels and corridors. Time was ticking as they hurried desperately through the different corridors in the hope of finding something that resembled the Slytherin common room entrance.

"Ha!" said Ron excitedly when they saw movement up ahead. "There's one of them now!"

But as they got closer, they realised it was not a Slytherin at all. It was Percy.

"What're you doing down here?" said Ron.

Percy looked ruffled. "That is none of your business. It's Crabbe isn't it?"

"Wh- oh yeah," said Ron

"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy bossily. "It's not safe to go off wondering around dark corridors these days."

"What about _you?" _Amara interjected sharply.

"I am a Prefect. Nothing's going to attack _me._" He said "Parkinson, right?"

"What if it is?" sniffed Amara. "_I'm _not going to tell you."

Percy was about to reply when another voice joined them. And for the first time in her life (and probably the last), Amara was glad to see Draco Malfoy.

"There you are," he drawled as he got to them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall this entire time? Wait – Pansy, what are _you _doing back here?"

"I needed to get something," said Amara quickly. "I – er – forgot it, and it wasn't, um, exactly great to be home."

Malfoy nodded. "Anyway, I have something really funny I want to show you all.

He then noticed Percy.

"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?"

"You want to show a bit more respect to a school Prefect!" said Percy, looking highly affronted. "I don't like your attitude!"

Malfoy just sniffed before motioning to the three of them to walk on. They walked down to another passageway.

"That Peter Weasley –"

"Percy," said Ron

"Whatever," Malfoy dismissed. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."

Amara's heart sped up, but before any of them could say anything, they stopped at a stretch of wall.

"What's the new password again, Pansy?" asked Malfoy.

"Um –" Amara stuttered.

"Oh yeah – _pure-blood!" _Malfoy said and a door that was in the wall slid open. They entered the Slytherin common room.

It was long, low and had rough walls and ceilings. Green round lamps were strung by chains from the ceiling, casting a greenish glow in the surroundings. A fire was crackling under the carved mantelpiece in the wall and the silhouettes of Slytherins were crowded round it.

Amara flopped herself down on a chair away from the rest of the Slytherins to act more natural. Harry and Ron followed suit quickly.

"Yeah, you wait here, I'll go and get it – my father just sent it to me." Malfoy said before disappearing to his dorm.

Amara kicked Ron because he was sitting ramrod straight.

"Act natural," she hissed.

Malfoy came back a minute later, holding a newspaper cutting in his hand. He thrust it under Ron's nose.

Ron's eyes widened, but he forced a laugh before handing it on to Harry, then Amara.

_ENQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC_

_Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.  
Mr Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr Weasley's resignation.  
__'Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute,' Mr Malfoy told our reporter. 'He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately.  
__Mr Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them._

Amara smiled and laughed weakly. She handed the cutting back quickly.

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Amara snorted, which Malfoy took for a sign of agreement. Ron's face had turned very red with anger.

"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.

"Stomach ache," grunted Ron.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy which made Amara want to kick him. "You know, I'm surprised the _Daily Prophet _hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place. He loves Muggle-Borns. A decent Headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."

Malfoy imagined he had a camera and did nasty representations of what Colin did: "Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes please, Potter?"

Amara let out a shrill giggle because she was trying not to lunge at him. Luckily, it sounded like Pansy laughing, so Malfoy just nodded appreciatively.

He turned to the boys. "What's the _matter _with you two?"

Harry and Ron forced a laugh, but luckily Crabbe and Goyle seemed to do this a lot, so Malfoy seemed satisfied.

"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped-up Granger or that pretentious Matthews – both Mudbloods. And people think _he's _the Slytherin heir!"

Amara snorted to add affect, but she was thinking about how the Hufflepuffs thought that Harry was the Heir, eventhough he was friends with them, yet Malfoy was the one to realise it. She also was getting ready for Malfoy to spit it out that it was him – he looked ready too, but –

"I _wish _I knew who it _is_," complained Malfoy. "I could help them."

Amara was shocked, she was sure that he had been going to tell them it was _him _who'd been setting a monster on them, but no, he was wanting to help them – in fact, it seemed he wished it was him.

"Don't you have any clue?" asked Amara desperately, for Ron was looking gormless.

"You know I haven't, Pansy!" snapped Malfoy and Amara feigned a hurt expression, which made Harry stare at her, because it must've looked like she was in great pain with Pansy's pug-like features. "And father won't tell me _anything _about the last time the Chamber was opened, either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing: last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood _died. _So I bet it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time … I hope it's Granger – or even better, _Matthews." _

Amara went slightly whiter than usual, hearing her name spat out because she was wanted dead. She did not want to die from a Slytherin monster at all; she hoped they'd be able to stop it if it happened. Ron was clenching his fists very hard and Harry said quickly: "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"

"Oh yeah … whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" said Harry, and Amara was bewildered.

"Azkaban – _the wizard prison, _Goyle." said Malfoy in disbelief. "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backwards."

"Father says to keep my head down and let the heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our Manor last week?"

Amara looked at him thoughtfully.

"Yeah …" Malfoy said. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some _very _valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor –"

"Ho!" said Ron.

Amara, Harry and Malfoy stared at him. He blushed to the roots of his hair. In fact… his hair was turning red and his nose lengthening. Amara herself felt her hair start growing and turning back into her normal dark brown. Their hour was up.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet.

"Medicine for my stomach," grunted Ron and together, the both of them sprinted out of the room. Waiting a second, Amara sprung up too.

"Oh no! I forgot to –"

But before she could finish she ran out, hoping that Malfoy did not notice anything. Her feet were shrinking and the shoes she was wearing were now four sizes too big, her robes were now trailing along the floor like a cape. She ran out and joined Harry and Ron in the passageway, and together they tripped their way up to the entrance hall. There was a pounding from a cupboard the real Crabbe and Goyle were in. Amara took her shoes off whilst Harry and Ron put them outside the door. She held them in her hand as she ran to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," said Ron closing the door. "I know we still haven't found out who's going the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoy's drawing room."

Amara nodded as she checked if she was back to normal. She then turned and started banging on the cubicle door that Hermione was in.

"Hermione! Hermione! Come on, we've got stuff to tell you!" she said.

"Go away!" said Hermione from behind the door.

Amara was puzzled and shot a look at Harry and Ron, to see if they understood.

"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are …"

Moaning Myrtle glided through the door, looking uncharacteristically happy.

"Ooooooh wait till you see," she said happily. "It's _awful!"_

"What is?" said Amara but the door suddenly opened, and Hermione came out, sobbing, with her head in her robes.

"Hermione?" she said. "You're not still like … oh my."

Hermione had revealed herself. Her face was covered in black fur and her normal brown eyes had gone yellow. Two ears were poking out from beneath her hair on her head.

"It was a c-cat hair!" she sobbed. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the P-Potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"

"Uh oh," said Ron, who had backed into the sink.

"You'll be teased something _dreadful," _said Myrtle chirpily and Amara scowled at her.

"It's OK, Hermione," said Harry before she could say anything else. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions …"

"Yeah," said Amara. "She'll be able to sort you out in a jiffy, come on!"

Hermione, though, did not seem to want to leave the bathroom.

"Hermione, it'll be worse if you stay here!"

"C'mon Hermione!"

In the end, it was Myrtle who helped them out, by saying:

"Wait till everyone finds out you've got a _tail!"_


	12. Valentine's Day

**_A/N Hey guys, back with regular updates again! I managed to write 10,000+ words this weekend for this story, and so I am on the last few chapters - which is good because i like to keep up with things. I would add more, but my dog is sitting on me, so please, just review!  
_**

**_Chapter Twelve_**

**_Valentine's Day_**

Hermione stayed in the hospital wing for the whole of January. Everyone thought she had been attacked when they came back and always detoured to the hospital wing on the way to lessons to see if they could see her, so Madam Pomfrey pulled curtains around her bed. Amara tried to visit her whenever she could, because it she thought it would be boring stuck in the hospital wing for so long and she missed Hermione being around.

They always saw her every evening, and when the term started, Amara wrote her extra notes and gave her the homework the teachers set, which Amara thought was ridiculous.

"If I'd sprouted whiskers, I'd take a break from work," said Ron as they placed the homework on her bedside table. Amara nodded.

"Don't be silly, I've got to keep up," Hermione said, looking slightly happier than she had, because her eyes were turning back and the fur had disappeared. Her ears were still there, which Amara secretly thought was rather funny because she had two pairs of ears. "I don't suppose you have any new leads?" she added quietly.

"Nothing," said Harry.

"I was so _sure _it was Malfoy," said Ron for about the thousandth time.

"That's why we haven't got anywhere," said Amara. "We were too focused on Malfoy to think of anyone else."

"What's that?" asked Harry, pointing at something gold under Hermione's pillow.

"Just a Get Well card," she said quickly, shoving it out of sight. But Ron got it first.

"_To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and five times winner of _Witch Weekly's _Most-Charming-Smile Award."_

"He can't stop putting that there – whatever chance he gets!" Amara said, wrinkling her nose.

"You sleep with this under your _pillow?" _Ron said in disgust.

Madam Pomfrey came over then, bustling them out so she could give Hermione her evening dose of medicine.

"Is Lockhart the smarmiest bloke you've ever met, or what?" Ron said as they the hospital wing and up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Yes," said Amara "We'd better go do that stupid Potions essay."

"Yeah, we should've asked Hermione how many rat tails you put in that Hair-Raising Potion …"

"Oh, you need –" Amara cut off when an angry yell sounded out from above them.

"That's Filch," said Harry and they hurried up the stairs and hid behind the wall to listen.

"You don't think someone else's been attacked?" asked Ron.

But Filch was going on about something else.

"_ … even more work for me! Mopping all night, like I haven't got enough to do! No, this is the final straw, I'm going to Dumbledore …"_

He seemed to be getting farther away, and soon they heard a door slam.

They peeped around the corner to see Filch nowhere in sight. They were where Mrs Norris had been attacked and the floor was covered in water stretching the length of the corridor. It seemed to be coming from Myrtle's bathroom, because her wails were echoing loudly over the castle.

"_Now _what's up with her?" said Ron.

"Let's go and see," said Harry and they hitched up their robes to wade over to the Out of Order toilet. Amara's shoes were completely soaked and her socks were too.

Moaning Myrtle was howling in the bathroom when they entered. The place was cast in a dim light from the window, because the candles had been blown out. The walls and floor was covered in water which was now seeping out the door.

"What's up, Myrtle?"

"Who's that?" she gurgled from the toilet she was in. "Come to throw something else at me?"

They waded over to the cubicle.

"Why would we throw something at _you?" _Amara asked in confusion.

"Don't ask me!" Myrtle shouted, finally emerging, but bringing another wave of water that swept over their legs. "Here I am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me …"

"But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you," said Harry. "I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?"

Funnily enough, this did not go down well with the ghost.

"Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because _she _can't feel it!" she shrieked. "Ten points if you can get it through her stomach! _Fifty _points if it goes through her head! Well ha ha ha! What a lovely game, I _don't _think!"

"Who threw it at you anyway?"

"_I _don't know … I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell right through the top of my head." said Myrtle. "It's over there, it got washed out."

A small, thin, black book was lying under the sink, sopping wet like everything else was. Amara had a strange feeling she had seen it before, but she had had a mind blank of where. They all went over to have a look. Harry reached for it, but Ron flung his arm out to stop him.

"What?" asked Amara and Harry.

"Are you mad?" said Ron. "It could be dangerous."

"_Dangerous?" _Amara giggled. "How? It's a book!"

"You'd be surprised," said Ron. "Some of the books the Ministry's confiscated – Dad's told me – there was one that burned your eyes out. And everyone who read _Sonnets of a Sorcerer _spoke in limericks for the rest of their lives. And some old witch in Bath had this book that you could _never stop reading! _You just had to wander around with your nose in it, trying to do everything one-handed. And –"

_"_All right, I've got the point." said Harry.

"But it's no use staying there," said Amara and she grabbed it off the floor. It was a diary, about fifty years old. She opened it as Ron and Harry looked at it. On the corner there was a name: 'T. M. Riddle."

"Hang one," said Ron, who had read it too. "I know that name … T. M. Riddle got an award for special services to the school fifty years ago."

"How on earth d'you know that?" said Harry and Amara.

"Because Filch made me polish his shield about fifty times in detention," said Ron. "That was the one I burped slugs all over. If you'd wiped slime off a name for an hour, you'd remember it too."

Amara flicked through the soggy pages and found it was completely blank.

"Oh," she said. "It's empty!"

She gave it to Harry who looked too.

"I wonder why someone wanted to flush it away?" asked Ron curiously.

"Must've been Muggle-born," said Harry. "To have bought a diary from Vauxhall Road …"

"Well it's not much use to you," said Ron. "Fifty points if you can get it through Myrtle's nose," he added quietly and Amara snorted.

Harry, instead, put it in his robe pocket.

-OOOOOO-

Hermione came out of the hospital at the beginning of February, completely back to normal – no whiskers, fur, tail or ears. Harry showed her Riddle's diary that he still had, on her first evening back.

"Oooh, it might have hidden powers," said Hermione excitedly.

"If it has, it's hiding them very well," said Ron. "Maybe it's shy. I don't know why you don't chuck it, Harry."

"I wish I knew why someone _did _try to chuck it," said Harry. "I wouldn't mind knowing how Riddle got an award for special services to Hogwarts either."

"Could've been anything," said Ron. "Maybe he got thirty O. or saved a teacher from the giant squid. Maybe he murdered Myrtle, that would've done everyone a favour …"

"What's 'O. '?" asked Amara.

"Exams," said Ron. Amara nodded and thought about what he said.

_The Chamber of Secrets!_

"What?" said Ron, for Harry and Hermione had the same look she had.

"Well, the Chamber of Secrets was opened fifty years ago, wasn't it?" Harry said. "That's what Malfoy said."

"Yeah …"

"And _this diary _is fifty years old!" said Hermione, pointing to the diary.

"So?"

"Oh for pity's sake, Ron!" Amara snapped. "The last time the Chamber was opened was fifty years ago – and the person who opened it was expelled. Well, T. M. Riddle got a _special services award fifty years ago! _What if Riddle caught the heir of Slytherin? Maybe _that's _why he got the award!"

"Yes, and the diary would probably tell us everything! What the monster is, where the Chamber is and how to open it!"

"That's a _brilliant _theory, guys," said Ron. "But there's just one little flaw – _there's nothing written in that diary."_

Hermione was ignoring him and pulling her wand out of her bag.

"It could be invisible ink!" she said and tapped the diary three times. "_Aparecium!" _

Nothing happened to the diary. But she shoved her hand back into her bag and pulled out what looked like a long red rubber.

"It's a Revealer, I got it in Diagon Alley," she explained.

She rubbed it on 'January 1st'. Nothing happened again.

Amara was slightly disappointed by this, and Ron said "I'm telling you, there's nothing to find in there. Riddle just got a diary for Christmas and couldn't be bothered filling it in."

-OOOOO-

Amara did not know why Harry did not want to throw the diary away – it did not seem to be of any use to him, unless he wanted to use it. Amara, though, kept having the thought of her seeing it before, though she did not seem to know where. She had never bought one before, or had someone else buy one either.

Harry wanted to go see if he could find out more about Riddle, so the next day at break they all trooped to the Trophy Room – Harry and Hermione being interested, Amara being curious and Ron being unconvinced that it had anything to do with it. He also complained that he had seen it more than he wanted to in a life time, but he still came too.

They found Riddle's shield and saw his name on a list of Head Boys and a medal of Magical Merit, but could not find anything else.

"He sounds like Percy," said Ron in disgust. "Prefect – Head Boy, probably top of every class."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Hermione said.

-OOOOO-

The weather was finally turning nicer now that the winter months were slowly disappearing. There was also a cheerful air, because there had been no more attacks since Justin Finch-Fletchley and Nearly Headless Nick, who both were still in the hospital wing. Also, Professor Sprout had said the mandrakes were now being moody and secretive, which meant that they were leaving their childhood. All they needed to do was to have their acne cleared up, so they would be able to be re-potted again and then they could be chopped up and made into a restorative draught.

The Slytherin Heir seemed to have stopped in their act, maybe because the school was becoming more alert, or because they wanted it to die down before striking again. Amara did not wish to know – she hoped the monster had gone away for another fifty years. Harry was still not off the hook, though, because Ernie Macmillan was certain it was him who was doing the attacks, after what happened at the Duelling Club. Amara was irritated that some Hufflepuffs were agreeing with him and hanging onto his every word.

Amara and Hermione woke quite early on February 14th. They got ready quickly – as Parvati, Lavender and Sophie were still trying to get out of bed – and met Ron down in the common room. Harry was still sleeping, apparently, and Ron did not want to wake him, so they headed down to the Great Hall together.

Once they had arrived, Amara wished they hadn't, for the entire hall was covered in lurid pink flowers. Heart-shaped confetti was raining down on them and into their food. The boys were all looking rather sickened and the girls rather giggly. The confetti kept fixing itself onto her hair.

"What on earth?" said Ron, looking disgusted as they sat down between a group of giggly sixth-year girls and a pack of grumpy fourth-year boys, who looked as though they were not enjoying themselves very much.

Amara started giggling at the sight, which made Ron groan and Hermione to join in, because the scene was hilarious. She was still giggling when Harry came rushing in, blinking in confusion when he saw the décor.

"What's going on?" he said as he started eating.

"Look at Lockhart," Amara giggled, for Gilderoy Lockhart was wearing matching pink robes and was trying to get the hall silent.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" he said. "And may I thank the forty-six people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all – and it doesn't end here!"

Lockhart clapped his hands and in came a dozen grumpy dwarfs from the Entrance Hall. They were all dressed in cupid costumes – complete with harps.

"My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" beamed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a Love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments that any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

Amara tried not to laugh when the Hall was silent, so she nearly started having tears in her eyes. They left the Great Hall a while later, everyone still in shock.

"Please, Hermione, tell me you weren't one of the forty-six," said Ron as they went, but Hermione started rummaging in her bag and did not answer.

The dwarfs kept barging into all their lessons all day long, to the annoyance of the teachers. In Transfiguration, one came for Amara, and she did not stop blushing when the whole class went into fits of giggles. She shoved it into her bag to open later. Ron and Harry teased her relentlessly for an hour before Harry received one himself. They were heading to Charms when a surly looking dwarf came tearing up the stairs, kicking people's shins.

"Oy, you! 'Arry Potter!" he shouted.

Harry tried to escape, because there was a line of giggling first-years that included Ginny. Amara smiled as she walked past, but Ginny merely grimaced, and Amara knew that the card for Harry was from her.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person," he said.

They seemed to have some sort of scuffle in the corridor, which held up a lot of people which made a crowd. Harry's bag split open and everything fell onto the floor – his ink smashing over his books and parchment.

"What's going on here?" came the voice of Draco Malfoy as Harry struggled to get everything up. Amara started trying to help but stopped when she heard another voice.

"What's all this commotion?" asked Percy Weasley as he swept through the crowd.

One second Harry was standing horror-struck, and the next he was gone, trying to run away. The dwarf had other ideas and grabbed his legs so he fell over.

"Right," he said. "Here is your singing Valentine."

"_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,  
His hair is as dark as a blackboard.  
I wish he was mine; he's really divine,  
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."_

Amara couldn't help it – she burst into sniggers with Ron at the sight of Harry's face. She laughed so much tears were streaming down her face and Ron was leaning on her for support because he was doubled up with mirth.

"Off you go, off you go, the bell rang five minutes ago," said Percy, shooing people away. "_And _you Malfoy."

Malfoy snatched something from off the floor and showed it to Crabbe and Goyle. It was Riddle's diary.

"Give it back," said Harry.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this," said Malfoy loudly.

Amara noticed something else though; Ginny was staring at the diary and Harry with a look of pure terror. She suddenly remembered Ginny writing in something very similar looking to the diary – her own. Amara thought about how Ginny hid it away whenever she spoke to her. It must've had some private stuff in it – and it looked as though Harry had it. Amara felt sorry for Ginny, because she must be thinking that Harry managed to get hold her diary and was going to read it – but it couldn't be the same one, could it? It was blank!

"Hand it over, Malfoy," Percy was saying.

"When I've had a look," said Malfoy evilly.

Percy was about to answer when Harry whipped out his wand and yelled "_Expelliarmus!"._

The diary shot out of Malfoy's hands and into the air, where Ron caught it, grinning.

"Harry!" Percy said. "No magic in the corridors, I'll have to report this, you know!"

Malfoy, furious that Harry had one-upped him, yelled out to Ginny when she passed him to get into her classroom.

"I don't think Potter liked your Valentine very much!"

Amara and Ron glowered and pulled out their wands because Ginny ran into her classroom with her hands on her face. Harry and Hermione pulled them away.

Amara was furious all through Charms, eventhough it was her favourite, and kept replaying Ginny's face and the diary. She was confused, because the diary was blank, but Ginny looked terrified that it was _her _diary Harry had. She decided not to dwell on it, because Ron's wand was emitting large purple bubbles that kept floating onto her head and bursting.

-OOOOO-

That evening, Harry went to bed very early, because Amara, Fred and George kept singing '_His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad' _over and over, whilst figuring out a dance-routine to match. Everyone was enjoying it but Amara decided to stop once Harry had gone, which made complaints from Fred and George, because she noticed Ginny in the corner.

"You alright, Ginny?" she asked her, flopping down in a chair next to the small girl.

Ginny nodded, holding her quill in her hand.

"I'm sorry about today," she said awkwardly as Ginny looked depressed.

"I'm going to bed," said Ginny miserably, collecting her things and trooping off to the dormitory by herself, ignoring the calls some first-year girls were making.

Amara frowned. From what Ron had always said, Ginny _never _acted like this. She wondered if she was dwelling over the Valentine or the diary.

Fred and George had decided to stop singing now that Harry had disappeared, so the common room was quiet again. Amara, Hermione and Ron did some of their essays before heading up to bed for an early night.


	13. Cornelius Fudge

**_A/N Whoo, early chapter! Yes, there's not many left now (about four?) and I had a day off today, so I decided to update:) R&R! Thanks for all the reviews so far :3_**

**_Chapter Thirteen_**

**_Cornelius Fudge_**

The next day, Harry told them of his adventure the night before.

"You mean to say, you wrote in that diary, and it _wrote back to you?_" Amara said incredulously. "Wow!"

Harry nodded.

He told them all about how Riddle wrote back to him, saying how he could show him what happened with the Chamber _last _time around. Harry had gone _into _the diary and into a memory. Riddle found the culprit of the attacks single-handedly – but the person was Hagrid.

Amara and the rest had always known that Hagrid had been expelled in is third-year because Harry had told them. But he had never given any mention of why he had or what he did. However, Hagrid had always loved creatures and monsters that other people thought were, well, _monsters. _Eventhough Hagrid had a tendency to love crazy animals; Amara was certain he would never have set a monster to kill anybody with.

Amara, Ron and Hermione all asked Harry to replay the events over and over, so they could think about what they had heard.

"Riddle _might _have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people."

"How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron said.

"We knew Hagrid was expelled in third-year," said Amara.

"And the attacks must've stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award."

"Riddle _does _sound like Percy – who asked him to grass on Hagrid, anyway?" said Ron.

"But it had killed someone," Amara pointed out. "But it _can't _have been him …"

"But Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," Harry said. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here …"

Ron looked thoughtful before saying. "You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?"

"He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Harry.

"Yuck," said Amara in disgust.

They all went quiet to think about it.

"Do you think we should go and _ask _Hagrid about it all?" Hermione said.

"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron. "Hello, Hagrid, tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?"

"And he would ask how we got this information too," said Amara.

They decided not to ask Hagrid about the attacks, unless there was another one. The last attack had been nearly four months ago, and everyone seemed to relax a bit more, because it seemed like they had finally stopped. Peeves and stopped singing and Ernie had actually asked Harry to pass the leaping toad stalls in Herbology and even the Mandrakes were doing well. They had held a massive, loud party in Green House Three in March, and Professor Sprout was very pleased. Amara hoped that the attacker would stop forever.

Amara had also opened her Valentine's Day Card from the day before (out of side from Harry and Ron, of course) and found that the person had only left their initials, RM.

-OOOOO-

When the Easter Holidays came around, the second-years had to choose their subjects for third-year, which Hermione decided to take extremely seriously.

"It could affect out whole future," said Hermione as they went through the list, ticking the ones they wanted to take.

"Really?" Amara asked, "So soon?"

"I just want to give up Potions," said Harry.

"We can't," said Ron grumpily. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd ditch Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"But that's very important!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What, with Lockhart?" Amara said. "We haven't learnt _anything _with him, I'm with Ron. I wish I could ditch it too."

"Yeah, all we've learnt it not to set pixies loose,"

Neville had a load of owls from many family members to 'help' him choose, whilst Dean just chose them randomly and hoped for the best. Harry did not know either, so he chose the same as Ron, and Hermione took everything. Amara had no idea what to take either, so she decided to take what looked interesting to her, which meant Study of Ancient Runes, Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.

Percy had tried to help Harry and Amara with their choices, but it didn't really help, because he had his own opinions on things. She definitely did not want to take Muggle Studies, because she had a muggle family, but Hermione decided she wanted to. This, Amara did not understand, but she decided not to think about it, because Hermione took all the options anyway, and it seemed impossible for her to be able to take them all in the end.

-OOOOO-

The next few weeks, Harry trained hard for the next Quidditch match – Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. He was gone every evening to train.

One evening, though, after he had gone up to change, he came hurrying back down to tell Amara and Hermione, who were working on a Potions essay together, that his dormitory had been ransacked and Riddle's diary was gone.

Once he had gone back upstairs, Hermione turned to Amara.

"But how would someone do that? It must've been a Gryffindor; nobody else knows our password…"

Amara had a more pressing worry – from the corner of her eye, she had spotted Ginny writing in a familiar slim black book, looking relieved. And Amara had a nasty feeling that it was Riddle's diary, and he was writing back.

-OOOOO-

The day of the Quidditch match dawned with brilliant sunshine and a nice, gentle breeze.

Amara tried to keep an eye on Ginny all through breakfast, but soon she forgot about it, because she was getting involved in the conversations she was having. Harry was still dwelling over the robbery, and Hermione urged him to report it, which he rebuffed immediately.

They exited the Great Hall and were just about to go up the marble staircase when Harry stopped suddenly.

He shouted out which made Amara, Ron and Hermione spring away in shock and look at him.

"The voice!" said Harry, looking over his shoulder. "I just heard it again – didn't you?"

Amara and Ron shook their heads. "You haven't heard it in ages though…" Amara whispered, but jumped as Hermione spoke.

"Harry – think I've just understood something! I've got to go to the library!" she exclaimed before sprinting up the stairs.

Amara stared after her, her mind spinning into action. She did not know what Hermione had realised, but really wanted to know.

"Because that's what Hermione does," said Ron shrugging. "When in doubt, go to the Library."

"What did it say, Harry?" Amara asked as people started filing out of the Great Hall, eager to get to the Quidditch pitch.

"About – about killing something …" said Harry uncertainly and Amara paled. Hermione was alone in the library.

"You better get moving," said Ron. "It's nearly eleven – the match."

Harry nodded and raced away to Gryffindor Tower. Amara was still deep in thought and didn't notice Ron tugging on her jumper.

"Amara!" he said impatiently. "The match?"

"Oh," she said distractedly. "Wait, you go on – I'll wait for Hermione."

"Well," he said uncertainly. "If you're sure." Amara nodded. She watched him head off and joining Dean, Seamus and Neville, who were on their way down to the pitch. She waited a second longer before hurrying off.

Everyone seemed to have gone out of the castle when Amara hurried up the marble staircase. She was nearly at the top when Harry came rushing down, muttering a quick hello as he passed. He did not seem to realise that it was her, because he seemed a bit too preoccupied with something to look at her properly. Amara went up the stairs and up to the next corridor; she walked all the way up to the fourth floor, to the library. She was about to turn the corner to the corridor that the library was on when she heard a two thumps that sounded as though someone had fallen over. She froze, wondering what to do. She waited a few seconds before peeping around the corner. Ahead, it looked like two figures were lying on the floor, just outside the library doors. She found it odd that people were still in the castle when there was a match on, she had been sure that everyone but Hermione and her were down at the Quidditch pitch, anticipating an exciting game.

Amara ran over to them, but stopped in her tracks as she saw who it was.

Hermione was lying on the floor, stiff, frozen and glassy-eyed. Next to her was the Ravenclaw girl that was in the library a lot and who they had bumped into when they had drunk the Polyjuice Potion. Next to the girl, who was also a prefect, was a small, round mirror. They had been petrified. Amara's heart was going so fast she thought it was going to burst. If she had followed Hermione straight away – _she _could have been the one lying on the floor, and the attacker must've done it only seconds ago – when she had heard those thumps. With the thought of the attacker being nearer than ever, she did the only thing she could think of: she screamed. Very loudly.

It did seem to have had an effect, as not two seconds later, loud, running footsteps came around the corner and Professor McGonagall swept into view.

"Professor! H-Hermione, she's – she's –" Amara stuttered slightly, not daring to believe it was true.

"Oh my goodness," gasped McGonagall loudly. "Miss Matthews – get Madam Pince immediately. Amara ran into the library, shouting out for Madam Pince. She looked furious but stopped when she saw what had happened.

Professor McGonagall ordered Amara to help them take Hermione and the Ravenclaw girl to the hospital wing, so she could alert the people on the Quidditch Pitch.

"I shall bring Potter and Weasley," she said before she left. Madam Pomfrey had placed Hermione next to the other girl – who was called Penelope Clearwater – on a bed. Amara sunk down onto a chair next to her. Her breathing was back to normal by now, but she was still thinking about how she had _heard _the two girls being petrified and how they didn't even make a noise. It was silent, like it had snuck up on them and had done it without them realising. Amara wondered why on earth a mirror was next to them –Professor McGonagall had placed it on the bedside table – because it hadn't helped.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Ron followed Professor McGonagall into the hospital wing. Harry was still clad in his Quidditch robes and both of them wore an expression of confusion. Madam Pomfrey was checking up on Penelope as they came over.

"Amara – oh, _Hermione!" _Ron finished off, after spotting Hermione lying frozen on the bed.

"Miss Matthews found them near the library," said Professor McGonagall. "Miss Matthews – did you see anyone near the area at the time?"

Amara shook her head. "I heard some thumps as I was rounding the corridor, like someone had fallen over, so I froze for a few seconds before coming round. The corridor was empty though."

"I don't suppose any of you could explain the mirror?" McGonagall said as she held it up. "Maybe it was a slightly good thing that you did not go around the corner straight away, Miss Matthews …" she sighed heavily. "I will escort you all to Gryffindor Tower, I need to address the students in any case."

And with one last glance at Hermione, the three friends left the hospital wing in silence.

-OOOOO-

"All students will return to their house common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to be postponed. There will be no more evening activities." Professor McGonagall said, to the entire Gryffindor house, who was sitting in the common room. It had never been so crowded – or so silent, for that matter.

"I need hardly to add that I have rarely been so distressed. It is likely that the school will be closed unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught. I would urge anyone who thinks they might know anything about them to come forward."

Once she had walked awkwardly out of the portrait hole, the common room erupted with chatter.

"That's two Gryffindors down, not counting a Gryffindor ghost, one Ravenclaw and one Hufflepuff," said Lee Jordan. "Haven't _any _of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe? Isn't it _obvious _all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The _heir _of Slytherin, the _monster _of Slytherin – why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?" he finished with a roar, and received echoes of approval and even some applause. Amara agreed with him – everything was Slytherin based, yet everyone seemed to be ignoring the fact. She wondered what the Slytherins were doing in their common room, complaining, no doubt, about how they now had to be escorted _everywhere _by a teacher. Even to the loo.

Percy was uncharacteristically silent, looking pale and shaken up.

"Percy's in shock," said George to Amara and Harry in an undertone. "That Ravenclaw girl – Penelope Clearwater – she's a Prefect. I don't think he thought the monster would dare attack a _Prefect."_

Amara nodded slightly and George turned to her.

"It was lucky you didn't go straight away," he said. "Or else you'd be lying in the hospital wing too."

"What're we going to do?" Ron asked them both. "D'you think they suspect Hagrid?"

"We've got to go and talk to him," said Harry. "I can't believe it's him this time, but if he set the monster loose last time he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets, and that's a start."

"But, Harry, McGonagall made it quite clear _not _to sneak out –" Amara said worriedly.

"I think," Harry cut her off. "It's time to get my dad's old Cloak out again."

-OOOOO-

Amara pretended that she had homework to do that night, so she waited in the common room until everyone had gone off to bed. Harry and Ron had gone up to their dormitory to wait, and came back down, fully dressed, a while later. They threw the cloak onto themselves before sneaking out the portrait hole.

Never before had the castle been so alive after sunset. It was the most uncomfortable journey ever – the castle was packed with teachers, prefects and ghosts, all walking around in pairs, keeping an eye out for any unusual activity. The Invisibility Cloak did not make them solid, so they had to keep dodging out of the way of people, nor did it muffle their noise, and there was one point where Ron stubbed his nose right where Snape was keeping watch. Fortunately, he sneezed when Ron swore, so nothing stopped them. They reached the oak doors and eased themselves through without making too much noise or opening them too much.

The sky was clear and starry as they hurried down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut, where the lights were still blazing.

They knocked and Fang's booming barks came through the door. They were met with a wooden crossbow in their faces when the door opened seconds later.

"Oh," he said once he saw them. "What're you three doin' here?"

"What's that for?" asked Harry.

"Nothin' … nothin'," Hagrid said. "I've bin expectin' … doesn' matter … sit down … I'll make tea …"

Hagrid was not functioning properly at all, he seemed to be shaking all the while he made the tea. Amara, taking pity, made it instead, and he sat down, still trembling.

"Are you OK, Hagrid?" said Harry. "Did you hear about Hermione?"

"Oh, I heard, all right," Hagrid said, looking nervously at the windows. Amara the tea on the table just as there came a knock on the door. Hagrid jumped violently, making a mug fall onto the floor. Amara, Harry and Ron retreated under the Invisibility Cloak again as Hagrid answered the door.

"Good evening, Hagrid." Dumbledore's pleasant voice swept the cabin. He entered the room with a serious expression, followed by a short, odd-looking man.

The stranger was wearing a suit, a red tie, a cloak and purple boots, with a green bowler hat under his arm. He wore an anxious expression that matched his grey hair, which was rumpled and weary.

"That's Dad's boss," Ron barely breathed. "Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic!"

Amara put a hand over his mouth to make him silent.

"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge. "Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. The Ministry's got to act."

"I never," said Hagrid. "You know I never, Professor Dumbledore, sir …"

"I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence." Dumbledore frowned at Fudge.

"Look, Albus," said Fudge awkwardly. "Hagrid's record's against him. Ministry's got to do something – the school governors have been in touch."

"Yet again, Cornelius, I tell you that taking Hagrid away will not help in the slightest," said Dumbledore firmly.

"Look at it from my point of view," said Fudge. "I'm under a lot of pressure. Got to be seen to be doing something. If it turns out it wasn't Hagrid, he'll be back and no more said. But I've got to take him. Got to. Wouldn't be doing my duty –"

"Take me?" said Hagrid, trembling. "Take me where?"

"For a short stretch only," said Fudge. "Not a punishment, Hagrid, more a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be let out with a full apology."

"Not Azkaban?" Hagrid croaked.

Another loud rap on the door spoiled Fudge's answer. Dumbledore answered the door to none other than Lucius Malfoy. This made Harry gasp, which earned him a whack in the ribs by Ron.

Mr Malfoy swept purposely into Hagrid's house, cold and calculating.

"Already here, Fudge," said Mr Malfoy. "Good, good …"

"What're you doin' here?" Hagrid growled. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, please believe me, I have no pleasure at all in being inside you – er – d'you call this a house?" Mr Malfoy sneered. "I simply called the school and was told the Headmaster was here."

"And what exactly did you want with me, Lucius?" said Dumbledore politely, but his eyes giving him away.

"_Dreadful _thing, Dumbledore," said Mr Malfoy idly, taking out a scroll of parchment. "But the governors feel it's time for you to step aside. This is an Order of Suspension – you'll find all twelve signatures on it. I'm afraid we feel you're losing your touch. How many attacks have there been now? Two more this afternoon, wasn't it? At this rate, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts, and we all know what an _awful _loss that would be to the school."

"Oh, now, see here, Lucius," said Fudge, alarmed. "Dumbledore suspended … no, no … last thing we want just now …"

"The appointment – or – suspension – of the Headmaster is a matter for the governors, Fudge," said Mr Malfoy. "And as Dumbledore has failed to stop these attacks …"

"Now, look, Lucius, if _Dumbledore _can't stop them –," said Fudge, who was sweating. "I mean to say, who _can?_"

"That remains to be seen," said Mr Malfoy. "But as all twelve of use have voted …"

Hagrid jumped to his feet. "An' how many did yeh have ter threaten an' blackmail before they agreed, Malfoy, eh?"

"Dear, dear, you know, that temper of yours will lead you into trouble on of these days, Hagrid," said Malfoy. "I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that. They won't like it at all."

"Yeh can' take Dumbledore," yelled Hagrid, making Fang cower away. "Take him away, an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance! There'll be killin's next!"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid," said Dumbledore. "if the governors want my removal, Lucius, I shall, of course, step aside."

"But –" Fudge stuttered.

"_No!" _Hagrid growled angrily.

"However," he continued. "You will find that I will only _truly _have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

His eyes flickered to where Amara, Harry and Ron were standing with bated breath.

"Admirable sentiments," said Malfoy, doing little bow. "We shall all miss your – er – highly individual way of running things, Albus, and we only hope that your successor will manage to prevent any – ah – _killin's."_

He bowed Dumbledore out of the door and into the night. He soon followed and Fudge was left, waiting for Hagrid expectantly.

"Ah," he said. "If anyone wanted ter find out some _stuff, _all they'd have ter do is follow the _spiders. _That's lead 'em right! That's all I'm saying."

Fudge stared.

"All right, I'm comin'," said Hagrid and putting his coat on he said. "An' someone'll need ter feed Fang while I'm away." With that, he was gone.

They took the cloak off.

"Dumbledore's gone?" Amara stuttered angrily. "That's it now, then. With him out of the picture, all the Muggle-borns in the school will be gone."

Fang howled at the closed door.


	14. Aragog

**_Chapter Fourteen_**

**_Aragog_**

Eventhough summer was now creeping its way up the school, inside, things could not be worse. Everyone was in a new state of panic – no face in the whole school did not hold worry or fear, and laughter was rare in the corridors nowadays. With Dumbledore gone, the whole school was in fear that attacks were going to start more often, and that by the end of it, no Muggle-born would be left. This worried Amara, for she knew a lot of Muggle-borns and was one herself, and she did not want to be petrified like Hermione.

They also tried to visit Hermione, but visitors were banned from the Hospital wing, for fear that the attacker would come back to finish the Petrified people off.

They knew all about what Hagrid had told them – follow the spiders. But now they were looking, they could not find a solitary spider anywhere. It did not help that they had to go around in packs, supervised by a teacher, which Amara felt was reassuring yet irritating at the same time. It gave them no chance to properly look for spiders, or talk very much on what had transpired down in Hagrid's hut.

There was one person who was finding all the fear that was sweeping the school and blocking out any happy thoughts or the summer from entering, rather enjoyable. Now that his father had managed to get his way and get Dumbledore away, Draco Malfoy was strutting about like he owned the place. He gloated evilly with Crabbe and Goyle, not caring if anyone over heard.

"I always thought that Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said, two weeks after Dumbledore had gone. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst Headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent Headmaster now. Someone who won't _want _the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in …"

"Sir," he said loudly as Snape swept passed them. "Sir, why don't _you _apply, for the Headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I dare say he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," smirked Malfoy. "I expect you'd have father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job. _I'll _tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir."

"Sucked-up, arrogant, little _git_," Amara hissed as Snape went away, Seamus pretending to vomit into his cauldron.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," said Malfoy with an eye on Amara. "Bet you five Galleons the next one dies. Hope its Matthews …"

The bell went just then, so the people who were trying to get to Malfoy to punch him (Ron, Dean and Seamus) all got lost in the scramble to shove stuff in their bags.

"Evil git!" Seamus hissed as they stood away, Amara, Harry and Neville trying to keep them away from attacking him.

"I'll kill him with my bare hands …" Ron growled.

"Hurry up! I've got to take you all to Herbology!" Snape snapped. They all went off, with Amara, Harry, Ron, Dean and Seamus walking at the back, glowering at the back of Malfoy's head. They let them go when Snape went away after seeing them out of the castle.

Herbology was silent now that two of them were missing. Professor Sprout made them prune Abyssinian Shrivelfigs. Harry went off the dispose of the dried twigs and came back with Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott. He had apologised, and he apologised the Amara too, for thinking Harry would attack her. "I'm very sorry for excusing Harry of such things," he said, holding out his hand. "I know that he would never attack Hermione Granger or you, for that matter, I hope you can forgive me." Amara accepted and they helped them with their Shrivelfig.

"That Draco Malfoy character," said Ernie as he cut off dried twigs and put them on the ever-growing pile. "He seems very pleased about all this, doesn't he? D'you know, I think _he _might be Slytherin's heir."

"That's very clever of you," Ron said, which earned him a whack with the pruning shears from Amara, because he hadn't forgiven Ernie as easily as they had. Ron glared at her before turning back.

"Do _you _think it's Malfoy, Harry?" asked Ernie.

"No," said Harry firmly and they stared.

A second later, he accidently elbowed Amara in the side and hit Ron with his own pruning shears.

"Ouch, Harry!" Amara said.

"_Ouch! _What're you –"

Several large spiders were scurrying across the earth a few feet away.

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, trying to look excited. "But we can't follow them now …"

Amara watched Ernie and Hannah listen in carefully.

"Looks like they're heading for the Forbidden Forest," said Harry.

This did not make the situation any better, because Amara did not want to go into the forest again, especially not when following large, hairy spiders in the dark.

As Professor Sprout escorted them to Defence Against the Dark Arts, Amara, Harry and Ron lagged behind to chat without anyone over hearing.

"We'll have to use the Invisibility Cloak again," Harry told them. "We can take Fang with us. He's used to going into the Forest with Hagrid, he might be some help."

"Right," said Ron. "Er – aren't there – aren't there supposed to be werewolves in the Forest?" he added as they entered the Defence classroom and took their usual seats at the back of class, with an empty space next to Amara, where Hermione would usually sit.

Amara shivered slightly. She remembered the one time she had gone into the forest last year, and it had not been a very pleasant experience. Especially when there was a half-living Voldemort and a dead unicorn in there. And centaurs that did not like humans interacting with them and would surely kill them if they ventured alone. Luckily, Voldemort was not there anymore, and hopefully, they wouldn't run into any centaurs or other things that could kill a unicorn, because they hadn't got Hagrid or his crossbow with them. Fang might help a little bit, but from what Amara remembered, he was a coward when it came to things that frightened him, which made his name sound very silly.

Lockhart bounced into the room with more than enough energy and happiness than anyone had in their life time.

"Come now," he cried when he saw everyone sat grimly in their seats. "Why all these long faces?"

Amara rolled her eyes and scoffed, not caring if she was overheard.

"Don't you people realise," said Lockhart. "The danger has passed! The culprit has been taken away."

"Says who?" Dean said loudly.

"My dear young man, the Minister of Magic wouldn't have taken Hagrid if he hadn't been one hundred per cent sure that he was guilty," said Lockhart, saying it as though they were all stupid.

"Oh yes he would," said Ron even louder.

"I flatter myself I know a _touch _more about Hagrid's arrest than you do, Mr Weasley," said Lockhart.

"Yeah, but they also took Dumbledore away, how weird is that?" Amara said, even more loudly than Ron. Lots of people nodded in agreement, but Lockhart pretended he hadn't heard.

All through the lesson he was dropping hints that he knew it was Hagrid who had been behind all the attacks and he was no good to be in the school. He also was confident that everything had ended and that the danger was there no more, and how he thought it was silly everyone was still so uptight with security measures. Amara got increasingly annoyed and frustrated by this, and by the end tuned him out of her mind, instead, reading the note Ron had passed along.

_'Let's do it tonight.'_

-OOOOO-

Amara never liked the common room much these days, for everyone was packed into one place, what with nobody going out after six o'clock. It was always very noisy, very packed and you could hardly hear yourself or concentrate. As everyone had nowhere to go, and because of the happenings of the school, everyone chatted until passed midnight every day.

Amara, Harry and Ron were waiting for the common room to clear, but Fred and George challenged the boys to Exploding Snap whilst Ginny watched, looking troubled in Hermione's usual spot. Amara watched her slyly the whole time, because she wanted to know what was troubling her, but knew it wouldn't make anything better if she asked outright.

Harry and Ron played the games quickly, trying to loose and make them go to bed. Even so, Fred, George and Ginny did not leave to go to bed until passed midnight. Amara was slightly sleepy, and wished she could stay there instead of hunting for spiders in the dark, but she had to do what she had to do.

The castle was alive again when they crept through the halls and corridors. The teachers and ghosts were still patrolling every corridor (except probably Lockhart) to look out for the monster. They reached the oak doors quicker than they had the time before and squeezed through them. They made their way across the moonlit grounds to Hagrid's hut, where the windows were dark.

"Course," said Ron when they were walking. "we might get to the forest and find there's nothing to follow. Those spiders might not've been going anywhere at all. I know it looked like they were moving in that sort of general direction, but …"

He trailed off.

When they opened the door to Hagrid's house, Fang met them, barking madly. Amara tried to shush him as Harry fed him some treacle fudge. This stopped the noise and they were able to leave the hut, leaving the Cloak on Hagrid's table, because it would just be annoying in the forest.

"Let's go, Fang," Amara said, beckoning him as they reached the door. Fang bounced out of the hut and ran over to the Forest to relieve himself against a sycamore tree.

Harry lit up his wand, and Amara followed suit, thinking it would be better to have two wands than only having one.

"Good thinking," said Ron. "I'd light mine too, but you know – it'd probably blow up or something …"

Amara spotted two spiders running out of her little sphere of light and into the dark trees. She gulped as the two boys began to enter the forest, following the trickle of spiders that were hurrying away.

Fang scampered ahead as they walked into the thick trees, the night like a blanket of darkness around them. They were silent as they walked in and tried to listen out for any other noised apart from their footsteps. Their robes snagged on bushes as they crept through the silent forest. Amara was trembling already; she hated not knowing what was in the dark, but did not want to find out. She also did not like the silence they were making, but was terrified of breaking it. They walked for a while, following the scurrying spiders on the undergrowth. Amara noticed that they could no longer see the stars or the sky because the trees had come too close together. The spiders were now going off the Forest path they were on, which made them pause. Hagrid had said not to leave the path, but also to follow the spiders. Amara looked behind them and found that they were deep in the forest with no means of getting out.

"What d'you reckon?" Harry's voice broke the tense silence.

"We've come this far," said Ron.

They left the forest path and followed the spiders even deeper into the forest. Because there was no path, they had to walk slower to dodge the tree-roots and stumps in their way. Amara kept tripping over and having to clutch Ron for support. They also had to keep checking where the spiders were, because they could no longer see them. They kept walking though, for more than half an hour, their robes getting even more ripped and torn.

Slowly, they realised that the path they were taking (or weren't taking) was sloping downwards and the trees were getting even thicker.

Suddenly, Fang gave out loud bark, which made Amara squeak and jump into the air.

"What?" said Ron as Amara gripped his and Harry's hands very tightly.

"There's something moving over there," whispered Harry which made Amara cling to their hands even tighter. "Listen … sounds like something big."

They heard something alright. Something was moving towards them, snapping twigs as it went.

"Oh no," said Ron. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Shut up!" said Harry. "It'll hear you."

"Hear _me?_" said Ron, his voice very high. "It's already heard Fang!"

They waited, breathing erratically, Amara still in the middle of them, squeezing their hands and screwing her eyes shut, which did not make a difference, because the Forest was pitch black anyway.

"What's going on?" she whispered.

"It's probably getting ready to pounce," said Ron.

They waited again, shivering.

"D'you think it's gone?" asked Harry.

"Dunno –"

Suddenly from their right came a flash of bright light, making them squint and shield their eyes for their eyes had become accustomed to the darkness. Fang yelped and got stuck in some thorns.

"Harry! Amara!" Ron shouted. "Harry, Amara, it's our car!"

"_What?" _Amara and Harry echoed.

"Come on!"

Amara hurried after Ron and Harry to a clearing. An old blue Ford Angela was parked there, the headlights blinding them.

"It's been here all this time!" said Ron in delight. "Look at it. The Forest's turned it wild …"

The car was certainly scratched and had a fair few leaves producing from under the bonnet and inside the car.

"And we thought it was going to attack us!" said Ron, hugging the car. "I wondered where it had gone."

Amara started to laugh but her breath caught as she gazed over to a spot over Harry's head. She stared, her heart jumping to her throat as she tried to make a noise of fright. When no sound came out she continued to stare so much her eyes were popping.

Above Harry's head were four very large, very hairy and _very _scary spiders. These were not the ones Amara had been afraid of before, but now, the puny ones she hated were long gone – one look at the fangs the spider had (which were bigger than her face) and she wanted to faint.

The spiders suddenly made a clicking noise and lifted Harry into the air. Amara screamed when she felt one picking her up too. She saw that Ron and Fang had been picked up too. The scream was lost as they began scuttling away, Amara face down in the air, and her voice was nowhere to be found.

Moonlight suddenly drowned the ground, which made the mass of spiders light up and make Amara tremble even more. She gazed around her and found they were in the spider's hollow, where no trees were. But there were a lot of spiders. All of them were gigantic, hairy and had large black pincers that could snap her in half. She whimpered slightly as the spider holding her released her.

She fell onto the ground and saw that Harry, Ron and Fang had had the same fate. Ron was looking utterly petrified and he looked as though he was internally screaming. Fang was cowering on the spot and Harry was looking terrified too.

The spider was clicking its pincers and talking.

"Aragog!" it said. "Aragog!"

A huge spider emerged from the hollow somewhat sleepily, its pincers clicking and its eyes white – it was blind.

"What is it?"

"Men."

"Is it Hagrid?" inquired Aragog, moving closer.

"Strangers," said the spider that had carried Amara.

"Kill them," said Aragog and Amara's stomach lurched. Killed by spiders? "I was sleeping …"

"We're friends of Hagrid's!" Harry shouted desperately.

Aragog stilled slightly as he was going down his web.

"Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before," he said.

"Hagrid's in trouble," said Harry rather bravely, Amara thought, because she was ready for the spiders to eat her. "That's why we've come."

"In trouble?" asked the spider. "But why has he sent you?"

"They think, up at the school, that Hagrid's been setting a – a – something on students. They've taken him to Azkaban."

Aragog seemed to become angry, for his pincers clicked ten times faster than they had been.

"But that was years ago," said Aragog helplessly. "Years and years ago. I remember it well. That's why they made him leave the school They believed that _I _was the monster that dwells in what they call the Chamber of Secrets. They thought that Hagrid had opened the Chamber and set me free."

"And you … you didn't come from the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry.

"I!" said Aragog angrily, "I was not born in the castle. I came from a distant land, A traveller gave me to Hagrid when I was an egg. Hagrid was only a boy, but he cared for me, hidden in a cupboard in the castle, feeding me scraps from the table. Hagrid is my good friend, and a good man. When I was discovered, and blamed for the death of the girl, he protected me. I have lived here in the Forest ever since, where Hagrid still visits me. He even found me a wife, Mosag, and you see how our family has grown, all through Hagrid's goodness …"

"So you never – never attacked anyone?" asked Harry and Amara was shocked at how he could still speak.

"Never," said the old spider. "It would have been my instinct, but from respect of Hagrid, I never harmed a human. The body of the girl who was killed was discovered in a bathroom. I never saw any part of the castle but the cupboard in which I grew up. Our kind like the dark and quite …"

"But then … Do you know what _did _kill the girl?" said Harry. "Because whatever it is, it's back and attacking people again –"

The spiders shifted angrily and pincers started clicking furiously.

"The thing that lives in the castle," said Aragog. "Is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others. Well do I remember how I pleaded with Hagrid to let me go, when I sensed the beast moving about the school."

"What is it?" asked Harry desperately.

Clicking erupted around them again. Amara shivered and looked around her. The black masses of spiders were closing in.

"We do not speak of it!" hissed Aragog. "We do not name it! I never even told Hagrid the name of that dread creature, though he asked me, many times."

Aragog seemed to be retreating, and Harry made no further comments. Amara squeaked as she saw the spiders crowding around them.

"We'll just go, then," Harry called out.

"Go?" questioned Aragog. "I think not …"

"But – But …"

"My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid, on my command. But I cannot deny them fresh meat, when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

Aragog slowly disappeared back into the domed web and Amara felt another wash of panic spread over her. The spiders were looking at them hungrily, clicking their pincers. Amara clutched her wand but knew it was hopeless - she couldn't even speak.

But then there was a blaze of light that lit up the hollow, and Mr Weasley's car came thundering down the slope. It's horn was screeching and it was whacking spiders away with such force they fell over backwards, their legs flailing in the air.

The car stopped in front of Amara, Harry and Ron with its doors open.

"Get Fang!" yelled Harry and he dived for the front seat. Amara leapt into the back as Ron threw Fang in beside her. She clutched the dog for support as Ron got it too and the car started moving by its own accord.

They thundered through the undergrowth, knocking various spiders out of their way as they tried to attack. The car was bashed and whipped as they trundled through a well worn path. Fang was howling so Amara tried to shush him in the back seat by hugging him. The images of the giant spiders were alive in her brain making her shudder.

For several long minutes they went thought the Forest, until the trees thinned out and Amara could make out the sky above them.

The car jerked to stop so suddenly Amara and Fang fell off the seat. When it became clear that they were at the edge of the Forest, Fang struggled out and started hammering his body at the window. Amara opened the door on her side and got shakily out, Fang sprinting past her and straight into Hagrid's cabin. Ron was still looking terrified and Harry was beginning to have the colour return to his face.

Harry went inside the cabin and Ron went shakily over to the pumpkin patch and was sick.

Amara went over to see if he was alright, as Harry came out of the hut, carrying his Invisibility Cloak.

"Follow the spiders," said Ron, wiping his mouth. "I'll never forgive Hagrid. We're lucky to be alive."

"I doubt Hagrid thought Aragog would hurt us," Amara croaked, speaking for the first time in ages.

"That's exactly Hagrid's problem!" Ron said. "He always thinks monsters aren't as bad as they're made out, and look where it got him! A cell in Azkaban! What was the point in sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?"

"That Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets," said Harry, covering them in the cloak and shoving Ron forward to make him move. "He was innocent."

Ron snorted at that, not believing that keeping a massive spider at school was acceptable.

They hurried up the lawns and to the castle's front doors, which they had left ajar. As they rushed up the stairs and corridors, they dodged watching guards who were scouring the castle. Finally they made it back to the confines of the Gryffindor common room, which was empty and the fire was now burning to ashes.

Amara bade the boys a little good night before heading up the stairs to her dormitory. As everyone was sleeping, she only managed to get undressed before collapsing quietly onto her bed.

Amara thought about what they had accomplished that night and found, with a heavy heart, that they had hit another dead end.

Not wanting to think about it, Amara drifted off to an uneasy and spider-filled sleep.


	15. The Chamber of Secrets

**_A/N So, I wanted to update on Sunday, but for some reason, my 'files' are not submitting into Doc Manager, so I decided to edit one of my other ones and put this chapter in instead :S Anyways, I'll try and update on Wednesday, because I have another day off (WHOO) and then I can't do it again until next week, because of stuff happening :( R&R!_**

**_Chapter Fifteen _**

**_The Chamber of Secrets_**

The next morning, however, Harry and Ron fed Amara the thoughts and revelations they had had the night before.

"Moaning Myrtle?" Amara said in awe. "It must be her - she died in a bathroom, right?"

"Yeah," said Ron. "And all those times we were in the bathroom, she was just three toilets away. And we could've asked her ... And now ..."

Now it would be impossible for them to go in there and chat. It might've been easier for them because Amara was a girl to have done it, but because it was an Out-of-Order bathroom and you had to go in with a teacher, not even Amara could get away with it.

In Transfiguration, their first class, Professor McGonagall told them some surprising news.

"Your exams will take place on the first of June, a week today," she said, not ten minutes into the lesson.

Amara gaped at her. _Exams_? At this time?

"_Exams?"_ Seamus howled. "We're still getting _exams_?"

Neville's wand slipped off his desk and he managed to vanish one leg. McGonagall turned to Seamus after putting it back.

"The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all revising hard."

Amara gulped and fiddled with her wand. She hadn't even thought about revising when the school was at the current state it was. Everyone muttered to their friends about this information, which made McGonagall frown.

"Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible. And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year."

Amara thought as she looked at the fluffy white slippers in front of her, which used to be rabbits. She decided that she'd be fine in Charms and Transfiguration, but not in much else.

Ron, though, had more pressing worries. He looked at his wand, which was whistling like a kettle, and held it up.

"Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" He said.

-OOOOO-

A few days later, some good news finally arrived. At breakfast, Professor McGonagall stood up to deliver it.

"I have good news," she said

The whole hall erupted into noise, people shouting out what they thought it was.

"Dumbledore is coming back!" yelled a few.

"You've caught the heir of Slytherin!"

"Quidditch matches are back on," Oliver Wood shouted predictably.

When everyone was silent, she continued. "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly to remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching of the culprit."

Amara cheered with the rest of the school.

"Hermione will know the answer!" She said excitedly. "She thought of something and went to the library! We needn't ask Myrtle at all!"

Ginny suddenly came over and say next to Amara, her hands twisting nervously in her lap.

"Ginny?" Amara asked. "What's the matter?"

Ginny was looking worriedly up and down the Gryffindor table, as though something was going to pop out at her at any moment.

"Spit it out," said Ron.

Ginny continued to rock back and forwards and Amara realised that whatever had been troubling her before she was ready to spill.

"I've got to tell you something," said Ginny, very quietly, not looking at any of them.

"_What?" _asked Ron pushily, and Amara scowled at him.

"It's OK, Ginny, you can tell us!" Amara said reassuringly.

Ginny nodded and tried to open her mouth to say something, but no sound came out.

"Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets?" asked Harry, somewhat eagerly. "Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?"

Just as Ginny drew a breath to relieve herself of her troubles, Percy Weasley chose that moment to pop out of nowhere, looking shattered.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty."

Ginny shot up like a rocket, looking terrified. She ran away sharpish, disappearing through the doors. Amara wanted to go with her, but she felt inclined to tell Percy off for interrupting them. She decided to catch her later, during break or something.

"Percy!" said Ron, annoyed. "She was about to tell us something important!"

Percy choked on his tea.

"What sort of thing?"

"We asked her if she had seen anything," said Amara.

"Oh – that – that has nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets," said Percy quickly.

"How do you know?" said Ron.

"Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was – well never mind – the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, I'd just rather …"

Amara was surprised at how awkward and uncomfortable Percy was.

"What were you doing, Percy?" Ron grinned, reminding Amara of Fred and George. "Go on, tell us, we won't laugh."

Percy did not return the smile.

"Pass me those rolls, Amara, I'm starving."

-OOOOO-

Amara knew for certain that what Ginny was trying to say was not something about what Percy was doing, in fact, Amara knew it was serious. However, Ginny never seem to be where she was during most of the morning. Amara tried to look for her as they were taken to each class, but never could.

They also needed to go talk to Myrtle, eventhough the mystery could be solved by tomorrow. Luckily, Harry was quick-thinking, and managed to snag an opportunity mid-morning, when Lockhart was taking them to their History of Magic class.

Lockhart was still adamant that the danger had passed, and that the attacker was Hagrid.

"Mark my words," he said as they walked. "The first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be, '_It was Hagrid'_. Frankly, I'm astounded Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary."

"I agree, sir," said Harry which made Amara and Ron drop all their books on the floor.

"Thank you, Harry," said Lockhart, whilst waiting for some Hufflepuffs. Amara and Ron hastily grabbed their books off the floor. "I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing guard all night …"

"That's right," said Ron as they both caught on. "Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go."

"You know, Weasley, I think I will," said Lockhart. "I really should go and prepare my next class."

As he hurried off, Amara snorted.

"I doubt he's going to do _that," _she said.

"Yeah, gone to curl his hair, more like," sneered Ron.

They waited until the Gryffindors had gone ahead of them, before walking so fast they were nearly running through a side passage to get to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

They were nearly there, and congratulating themselves for their way of getting away when a voice they did not want to hear echoed down the corridor.

"Potter! Weasley! Miss Matthews! What are you doing?"

Professor McGonagall was standing behind them as they wheeled around.

"Um," said Amara uselessly. "We, um …"

"We were – we were –" stammered Ron. "We were going to – go and see –"

"Hermione," said Harry suddenly and everyone looked at him. "We haven't seen her for ages, Professor," he carried on, stepping on Amara's and Ron's feet. "and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, to tell her the Mandrakes are nearly read and, er, not to worry."

Amara waited for McGonagall to explode in anger, so it shocked her when she spoke in a choked-up voice. Amara also swore she saw tears brimming in her eyes.

"Of course," she said. "Of course, I realise this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been … I quite understand. Yes Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission."

And with that, Amara, Harry and Ron walked disbelief. They heard McGonagall blowing her nose as they turned away.

"That," said Ron. "Was the best story you've ever come up with."

"I second that!" Amara said, grinning.

But they had to go to the hospital wing now, which Amara did not really mind, because she missed Hermione and hadn't seen her for ages. Madam Pomfrey was sceptical when they told her they had permission.

"There's just no _point _talking to a Petrified person," she said and they agreed once they sat next to her.

"Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?" said Ron sadly. "Because if he sneaked up on them all, no one'll ever know …"

"He must've," said Amara. "There was no strug – what's that?" she said pointing to a scrunched up bit of paper in Hermione's fist.

"What?"

"It's a piece of paper," Amara whispered and she tried to get it out. It was hard, but she managed it, by twisting and tugging so that it wouldn't rip. Opening it, Amara found it was a page from an old library book. Harry and Ron leaned closer to read it:

'_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly that the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach a gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.'_

In Hermione's handwriting, underneath the passage, was a solitary word: _Pipes._

Amara gasped in realisation as everything suddenly made sense. Harry seemed to have had the revelation too, because Amara looked up and his eyes were bright.

"This is it," she breathed excitedly. "All the answers! The monster – it's a _Basilisk!_ A massive snake!"

"And that's why I've heard it all over the place, because it's because I understand Parseltongue."

"And it says that people suffer instant death by looking straight into its eye – that's why nobody has died! Colin –"

"Saw it through his camera," said Harry. "Justin –"

"He saw it through Nearly Headless Nick – and he saw it straight in the eye, but he can't die! Hermione –"

"Hermione was found with a mirror next to her and the Ravenclaw girl. Hermione must've realised the monster was a Basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look round corners with a mirror first! And the girl pulled out her mirror – and –"

"And Mrs Norris?" asked Ron, his jaw nearly hitting the floor.

Amara stopped and thought.

"The water …" said Harry slowly. "The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs Norris only saw the reflection …"

Harry took the piece of paper from Amara and read it out. "_The Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it!" _he said. "Hagrid's roosters were killed! The heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! _Spiders flee before the Basilisk! _It all fits!"

"But how'd the Basilisk been getting around the place?" said Ron. "A dirty great snake … someone would've seen …"

"Pipes," said Amara quickly. "Oh my god, it used the _plumbing! _It's been in the walls … no wonder …"

Ron suddenly grabbed them both.

"The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!" he said hoarsely. "What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in –"

" – _Moaning Myrtle's bathroom!" _said Harry and Amara together.

Amara felt a giant adrenaline rush course through her veins as the information sunk in. Everything made sense, just by that tiny piece of paper. She felt elated, as though they were finally getting somewhere – _which they were!_

"This means," said Harry. "That I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The heir of Slytherin must be one too. That's how they've been controlling the Basilisk."

"What're we going to do?" said Ron. "Shall we go straight to McGonagall?"

"Let's go to the staff room," said Harry, leaping to his feet. "She'll be there in ten minutes, it's nearly break."

They ran out of the hospital wing and into the deserted corridors. They ran into the empty staff room to wait there. Amara walked around the room excitedly, relief rushing through her – they had solved most of the mystery!

But her happiness did not last long. Instead of the bell ringing out through the halls, Professor McGonagall's voice came through.

"_All students to return to their house dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please."_

Amara gasped and turned to Harry and Ron.

"_Now _what d'we do?" she asked them.

"Let's go in here," said Harry, pointing to a wardrobe. "Then we can tell them what we've found out."

They squeezed inside, trying not to smell the musty coats. There was the rumble of hundreds of footsteps above them and the noise of the staff room door being slammed open and the teachers swarming inside.

"It has happened," Professor McGonagall said when she arrived. "A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself."

Amara stifled a gasp as the teachers reacted to the news. Flitwick squealed and Sprout gasped.

"How can you be sure?" Snape asked, who was gripping a chair tightly.

"The heir of Slytherin," said Professor McGonagall. "Left another message. Right underneath the first one. _Her Skeleton will lie in the Chamber for ever." _

Amara went cold and very white. Her knees started trembling as she realised she had a hunch of who it was.

"Who is it?" asked Madam Hooch. "Which student?"

"Ginny Weasley."

Amara's heart fell to the bottom of her stomach as Ron sunk to the floor. Ginny. Amara realised that Ginny was the one to take Riddle's diary away from Harry, because she had been in the possession to start with. She must've worked out how to use it, then got suspicious of it (because, really, Amara thought, a talking diary _would _be weird) and tried to throw it away. Then, she thought that Harry would find out all the stuff she'd written in it. But the one flaw in her realisation was why Ginny was taken in the first place. Riddle was linked to the first opening of the Chamber of Secrets. Amara decided not to tell Harry or Ron, because there were many flaws in her theory.

"We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow," said McGonagall. "This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said …"

The staff room door whipped open and Gilderoy Lockhart was standing, his bright robes blazing, in the doorway.

"So sorry – dozed off – what have I missed?" he said, beaming.

Everyone in the room glared at him with pure hatred. Snape stepped up.

"Just the man," he said. "The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last."

Lockhart's smile slipped.

"That's right, Gilderoy," piped up Sprout. "Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

"I – well, I –"

"Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?" Flitwick joined in.

"D-did I? I don't recall …"

"I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested," said Snape. "Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled, and that you should have been given a free rein from the first?"

Lockhart looked around the staff room.

"I … I really never … You may have misunderstood …"

"We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy," said Professor McGonagall. "Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by yourself. A free rein at last."

Lockhart seemed to see if anyone would object and come to his rescue before he said anything. His good looks were tarnished – his grin replaced by a weedy smile and his hair out of place.

"V-very well," he said. "I'll – I'll be in my office, getting – getting ready."

He left quickly.

"Right," said McGonagall. "That's got _him _out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories."

The teachers left as Amara fell slowly to the bottom of the wardrobe as well.

-OOOOO-

Amara, Harry, Ron, Fred and George sat together in the common room that night. Nobody was talking, for there was nothing to say. Percy had gone to write a letter to Mr and Mrs Weasley and had shut himself in his dormitory. Amara sat in the middle of Fred and George, not used to them being so quiet and so grim.

They sat there all afternoon, wallowing in silence. The whole of Gryffindor House was there, yet no noise was made. Fred and George went upstairs near sunset, unable to stand it any longer.

"She knew something, you know," said Ron, the first thing he had said since the staff room. "That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all. She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why –" Ron rubbed his eyes quickly. "I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."

"Riddle's diary," said Amara hollowly. Harry and Ron looked at her. "She somehow had it at the beginning of the year. I saw her writing it, but didn't realise it was the same one. She must've known how to work it, and –" she stopped. "I dunno, it doesn't tell us why she was – was taken."

"Amara, Harry," Ron said. "D'you think there's any chance at all she's not – you know –"

"Yes, there must be," Amara said when Harry remained silent.

"D'you know what?" said Ron. "I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a Basilisk in there."

Amara and Harry agreed, because there wasn't anything else to do. They got up and walked out of the common room. Nobody tried to stop them as they went out of the portrait hole, because everyone was so miserable and felt so sorry for the Weasleys.  
The walk through the castle was silent and they did not bump into anyone on the short walk to Lockhart's office. The silence of the deserted castle corridors was disturbed by the movement from the goings-on behind Lockhart's door. When they knocked, however, the hurried movement stopped. The door opened the tiniest bit, and Lockhart peered through.  
"Oh ... Mr Potter ... Mr Weasley ... Miss Matthews ..." He opened the door slightly. "I'm rather busy at the moment. If you would be quick ..."  
"Professor, we've got some information for you," said Harry. "We think it'll help you."  
"Er - well - it's not terribly -" he stopped. "I mean - well - all right."  
He opened the door to his office. The whole place was being stripped and shoved into to enormous trunks on the floor. Robes in all colours were in one, and books flung into the other. Photographs were now stacked into boxes on the desk.

"Are you going somewhere?" asked Harry.

"Er, well, yes," said Lockhart, carrying on with his hurried packing. "Urgent call … unavoidable … got to go …"

"What about my sister?" Ron said angrily.

"Well, as to that – most unfortunate," said Lockhart, shoving things into his bag. "No one regrets more than I –"

"You're our teacher!" Amara exclaimed. "Our _Defence Against the Dark Arts _teacher – you can't go now!"

"Not with all the dark stull going on here!" interjected Harry.

"Well, I must say … when I took the job …" Lockhart said. "Nothing in the job description … didn't expect …"

"You mean you're _running away?" _said Harry and Amara felt a surge of anger as she tightened her grip on her wand. "After all that stuff you did in your books?"

"Books can be misleading," said Lockhart.

"You mean, you _didn't write them?" _hissed Amara, her eyes flashing.

"Well," said Lockhart. "My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think _I'd _done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, come on …"

"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Harry disbelievingly.

"Harry, Harry," said Lockhart. "It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book-signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."

He shut the trunks and turned towards them.

"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."

He pulled out his wand.

"Awfully sorry, boys – and Miss Matthews – but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book …"

Amara froze as Lockhart lifted his wand. Suddenly, before he had uttered a word, Harry raised his own and bellowed "_Expelliarmus!" _

Lockhart was blasted backwards, falling over his many trunks in the process. His wand flew into the air, and Ron caught it, throwing it easily out of the window.

"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," said Harry furiously. He kicked a trunk aside to look at Lockhart on the floor. Amara trained her wand at him, as he looked up at them, looking weedy again.

"What d'you want me to do?" said Lockhart. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."

"You're in luck," said Harry, holding Lockhart at wandpoint. "We think _we _know where it is. _And _what's inside it. Let's go."

Together, they marched Lockhart along to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Amara glanced at the gruesome messages on the wall, which were shining brightly. They had their wands on him the entire way, and made him go in first, which he did, whilst shaking.

Moaning Myrtle was on the top of her usual toilet, sniffling as always.

"Oh, it's you," she said as they went near her. "What do you want this time?"

"To ask you how you died," said Harry.

Myrtle's attitude changed at once. She looked reasonably flattered at the question.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said dramatically. "It happened right in here. I died in this very cubicle. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language. I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a _boy _speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then –" Myrtle swelled. "I _died."_

"How?" said Harry.

"No idea," said Myrtle. "I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up and then I was floating away …" she gazed at Harry dreamily. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she's ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" said Harry.

"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing to the sink.

Amara, Harry and Ron hurried over to examine it, Lockhart, however, standing far back, looking utterly terrified.

As they looked at it, it looked completely normal. They thoroughly searched all of it – including the pipes below it. Then, Harry spotted it – a tiny snake was scratched on the side of a copper tap.

"That tap's never work," said Myrtle as they turned it.

"Harry," said Ron. "say something. Something in Parseltongue."

"But –" Harry looked thoughtful.

"Open up," he said normally.

"Nah," said Amara as he looked at them questionly. "English."

The next time he tried, though, a strange hissing noise, exactly like a snake came out of his mouth. Amara shuddered, it was the strangest thing, and it wasn't pleasant.

The tap immediately glowed a white light and began to spin. The sink began to move downwards, sinking into the ground and out of sight, leaving a large pipe that a person could fit down with ease.

Amara was shocked. This was it. The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

"I'm going down there," said Harry.

Amara looked at him and nodded. She was not going to leave Ginny down there, all alone, and she was going to help her get back alive.

"Me two," said Ron.

"Me three," said Amara.

There was a pregnant pause as they all looked at Lockhart.

"Well, you hardly seem to need me," said Lockhart. "I'll just –"

He put his hands on the door knob, but Amara, Harry and Ron pointed the wands at him.

"You can go first," Ron snarled.

Defenceless and completely white and shaking rather badly, Lockhart approached the pipe gingerly.

"What good will it do?"

Amara huffed, then she shoved him so that he fell down the pipe, Lockhart exclaiming in surprise as he went down. Harry went next, then Ron and then Amara.

With a final gaze around the bathroom, Amara gave a gaping Myrtle a tiny wave before shooting down the grimy pipe.

It was very dark down the pipe, like a dirty water slide, without the water. It seemed endless too, as Amara rushed down it, her robes splaying out behind her. There were hundreds of other pipes, all different sizes, leading off to other areas, but not was as big as theirs. They were going so fast, and so deep under the school Amara knew that it would be impossible for anyone to have found it, if they were merely hunting for it. Suddenly, the pipe levelled out so if was flat and Amara whooshed through the air and landed next to Ron, who was still on the floor. The floor was wet and slimy.

"We must be miles under the school," said Harry.

"Under the lake, probably," said Ron.

They all looked at the dark tunnel ahead of them.

"_Lumos!" _said Harry and his wand lit up. Amara quickly followed suit. "C'mon,"

Amara, Harry, Ron and Lockhart started the trek through the tunnel, their footsteps slapping against the floor, making them jump. The tunnel was so dark that they could not see what was ahead, and the shadows were terrifying in the dim light.

"Remember," said Harry quietly, as they crept forwards. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away …"

But nothing came out of the darkness as the trekked through blindly. The only noise was the crunch of bones under their feet. They kept going until they turned the corner and froze.

"Harry, there's something up there …" said Ron.

Something huge was lying across the tunnel, motionless.

"Maybe it's asleep," said Harry. Amara's heart began to beat too fast, and she placed a hand over it.

They edged closer to the thing on the floor and found it was a gigantic snake skin. It was a vivid green, lying curled on the tunnel floor, empty and twenty feet long.

"Oh my," Amara said weakly.

Lockhart's knees gave way as he fell to the floor next to Ron. Amara and Harry, who were next to each other turned around.

"Get up," said Ron sharply, jabbing his wand at him.

Lockhart got up, then suddenly dived at Ron and tackled him to the ground. Amara shrieked in shock and both her and Harry ran forwards to help – but it was too late. Lockhart was getting to his feet, a gleaming smile and clutching Ron's wand in his hand.

"The adventure ends here!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you three _tragically _lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say goodbye to your memories!"

Amara gasped as he raised Ron's broken wand above his head and yelled. "_Obliviate!" _

The wand exploded like a bomb. Amara and Harry threw their arms over their heads and ran for cover, slipping on the snake skin as they went. They dodged out of the way of the chunks of tunnel falling from the ceiling. Then everything stopped and Amara and Harry were alone, facing a giant wall of rocks.

"Ron!" they shouted together.

"Ron! Are you alright?" Amara shouted.

"I'm here!" came his reply. "I'm OK, this git's not though – he got blasted by the wand."

There was a thud an exclamation of 'ow!', which meant Ron had hit him.

"What now?" Ron's voice said. "We can't get through. It'll take ages …"

Amara gazed helplessly at the piece of rocks that made up the solid wall. There was no point in using magic – the whole tunnel would cave in.

"We're wasting time!" said Amara. "Ginny's been down here for ages …"

"Wait here," said Harry to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on. If I'm not back in an hour …"

"I'm coming with you," said Amara firmly.

"But –"

"No, I've come this far, I'm not backing out now," she insisted. "It'll be stupid you going alone!"

Harry frowned but decided it wasn't worth fighting.

"I'll try and shift some of this rock," said Ron. "So you can – can get back through. And, Amara, Harry –"

"See you in a bit," cut off Harry. Amara gulped, nodded and walked away from the rock wall.

The noise of rocks being shifted soon drifted away and the tunnel twisted and turned. Amara wiggled her hands the whole way, because she seemed to do that when she worried.

"You OK?" Amara whispered, hating the silence.

Harry nodded, looking rather pale. "If we see anything – shut our eyes, right?"

Amara nodded and then found they were at the end of the tunnel. A wall was ahead, with two entwined snakes carved on it. They both had glittering emeralds as eyes. They looked strangle alive, so Harry did not have any difficulty in opening it with Parseltongue.

Harry made the strange hissing noise and the wall cracked open, both snakes and halves of the wall slipping out of sight.

With a glance at Harry, Amara stepped forwards, not wanting to know about the horror within.


	16. The Heir of Slytherin

**_A/n Day off - so I'm updating now! :) I'll try and Update tomorrow but we'll see how it goes, because this is the second-to-last chapter! :O I need to start the third book hahah ... please R&R! Even if you just say 'yeah. cool' or something? :(_**

**_Chapter Sixteen_**

**_The Heir of Slytherin_**

They seemed to be standing at the end of a long chamber. There was not much light and Amara had to squint to see what was in there. To support the ceiling, there were pillars with snakes twisting around them. Amara did not know what was going to happen – was the Basilisk free roaming around here? Where was Ginny?

"Wands out, d'you think?" whispered Amara as they crept forwards.

"Good idea," Harry breathed back with his eyes nearly shut, so it would be easier for him to shut them. Amara followed suit as they walked forwards quietly, trying to ignore the serpents twisting around the pillars.

As they walked through the last of the pillars, they saw a massive statue that was as high as the Chamber against the back wall. Amara craned her neck back to see its face, but quickly looked down at the floor as it hurt. She saw a tiny robes figure in between the feet of the statue, with flaming red hair.

"_Ginny!" _she said and ran over to the girl, who was lying face down. "Oh Merlin, Ginny! C'mon, Ginny! Wake up!" she turned her over to see her face, which was a shocking white. Her eyes were shut, which meant that the Basilisk did not petrify her.

"Ginny, please wake up," said Harry, who had run over too. He shook her.

"She won't wake," a new voice rang out through the Chamber, making Amara swivel round in surprise.

A tall, black-haired boy who was rather effortlessly good-looking was leaning against a pillar, watching the two of them struggle. He was blurred around the edges, and Amara had no idea who he was. But Harry seemed to.

"Tom – _Tom Riddle?"_

Riddle nodded, his eyes fixed creepily on Harry. Amara realised that this was the boy with the diary – that wrote back. As the information sunk in, Amara got confused. How was he here? And _why _was he here?

"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry was saying. "She's not – she's not –?"

"She's still alive," said Tom Riddle. "But only just."

Tom Riddle had been at the school fifty years ago, yet he looked about sixteen.

"Are you a ghost?"

"A memory," said Riddle. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."

He pointed to the floor near the statue's giant toes. There was the diary that Amara had seen Ginny write in and which had shown Harry a memory.

"You've got to help us, Tom," said Harry, oblivious. Amara's mind was whirring into action, trying to slot everything together. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a Basilisk … I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment. Please, help us …"

Riddle did not move.

"Amara – can you?" Harry said as he tried to hoist Ginny up. Amara got to her feet to try and help, but nearly dropped her when Harry bent down to pick up his wand. But it was not there on the floor anymore. Amara thought this strange – she still had hers.

"Did you see –?"

Amara looked at Riddle after placing Ginny carefully back down on the floor. He was holding Harry's wand in his slender fingers.

"Thanks …" said Harry but Amara knew that Riddle was not going to give it to him. She had a nasty feeling that Harry did not realise that Riddle was not a good person – had that not clicked with him? Why would Riddle be down in the Chamber of Secrets if he wasn't included in it?

Riddle smirked, twirling the wand in his hand.

"Listen," said Harry desperately. "_We've got to go! _If the Basilisk comes …"

"It won't come until it is called," said Riddle.

"What d'you mean?" Harry said. "Look, give me my wand. I might need it."

"Harry …" said Amara lowly but Riddle heard. He looked at her for the first time and his smile broadened. He said nothing of it though.

"You won't be needing it," he said instead.

"What d'you mean, I won't be –?"

"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

"Look," said Harry impatiently. "I don't think you get it. We're in the _Chamber of Secrets. _We can talk later."

"Harry – I don't think –" Amara started but Riddle cut her off.

"We're going to talk now," said Riddle, still smiling in a rather creepy way.

"What's wrong with Ginny?" asked Amara quietly, staring at the girl on the floor.

"Ah, what an interesting question," said Riddle to Amara. "And quite an interesting story, too. I suppose, the real reason Ginny Weasley has ended up like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."

'_You' _ Amara thought worriedly.

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry and Amara knew the answer.

"The diary," said Amara and Riddle's eyes left Harry's face to examine hers.

"Your little _friend _is right," said Riddle, turning back to Harry. "It was _my _diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes: how her brothers _tease _her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books, how one of Harry Potter's _best friends _is the only one who is nice to her and –" Riddle smirked. "– how she didn't think the famous, good, great Harry Potter would _ever _like her …"

He kept his eyes on Harry as he spoke, which creeped Amara out.

"It's very _boring, _having to listen to the silly troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he carried on. "But I was patient. I wrote back, I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply _loved _me. _No one's ever understood me like you, Tom … I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in … It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket …"_

Riddle laughed, high and cold, which made his handsome feature diminish under it.

"If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of _my _secrets, to start pouring a little of _my _soul back into _her …"_

"No!" hissed Amara, as the pieces slotted together slightly.

"What d'you mean?" Harry said after glancing at Amara.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter? You're little Mudblood friend has worked it out," said Riddle softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

"No," Harry whispered.

"Yes," said Riddle. "Of course, she didn't _know _what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries … Far more interesting they became … _Dear Tom, I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Hallowe'en, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me … Amara is getting suspicious too … there was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad … I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!" _

Amara was getting angry. Poor Ginny was unsuspecting and innocent – it was Riddle, _he _had tricked her and manipulated her.

"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where _you _came in, Harry. Your little Mudblood friend found it, and gave it to _you. _I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who it could have been in possession of, it was _you, _the very person I was most anxious to meet …"

"And why did you want to meet me?" asked Harry.

"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole _fascinating _history. I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's our friend," said Harry angrily. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake but –"

Riddle laughed again.

"It was my word against Hagrid's. Well, you can just imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless, but _brave, _school Prefect,, model student; on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls. But I admit, even _I _was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought _someone _must realise that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the heir of Slytherin. It had taken _me _five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance … as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power! Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed. Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did …"

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you …" said Harry.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on my after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to water those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well, you haven't finished," said Harry. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be alright again."

"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle. "That killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? If it was, I'd have killed the Mudblood beside you as soon as she entered. No, for many months now, my new target has been – _you."_

Amara stared at him, momentarily forgetting everything.

"Imagine how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. Wheat if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling the roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery – particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. Or two." He added with a side-glance at Amara. "And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue …  
So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became _very _boring. But there isn't much life left in her: she put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last. I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I did not expect another, but that's beside the point. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

"Like what?" snapped Harry.

"Well," said Riddle, smiling. Amara knew exactly why people were charmed by him when he was at school. He had an aura around him that made anyone feel flattered. "How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did _you _escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

Amara gulped and stared at the boy, who looked possibly evil in the light.

"Why do you care how I escaped?" said Harry. "Voldemort was after your time."

"Voldemort," said Riddle. "Is my past, present and future, Harry Potter …"

Out of his pocket, he pulled Harry's wand. He flicked it into the air and began tracing letters, making up three words.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

With a swift wave with Harry's wand, the words rearranged themselves to form another sentence.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Amara gasped as the shimmering letters hovered in the air. Riddle, _Tom Riddle, _was _Voldemort? _

"You see?" he whispered. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name for ever? I, in whose veins run the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul, common Muggle who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would on day fear to speak, when I had become the greatest sorcerer in the world!"

Amara was shock. She was not expecting Riddle to be Voldemort – the same person who had murdered countless people, including Harry's family.

"You're not," Harry's voice broke through Amara's thoughts. She didn't think she'd be able to speak, for she had been silent for a long time. She didn't want to speak, for she did not want to know what Riddle would do.

"Not what?" snapped Riddle, his pleasant stature gone.

"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Harry. "Sorry to disappoint you, and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days."

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere _memory _of me!" Riddle hissed, his face contorted.

"You really think it'll stay that way? He never left – not properly," Amara snapped.

Riddle was about to answer when music rang through the chamber and into their ears. Amara whirled around to stare at the empty chamber. Suddenly, when the music got to a spine-tingling pitch, flames erupted from the top of a pillar.

A scarlet bird, with a peacock tail of golden feathers, golden talons and was the size of a swan. It was holding a ragged bundle it the golden talons. It seemed to be heading straight at them, for it dropped the ragged bundle at their feet and landed on Harry's shoulder.

"That's a phoenix …" said Riddle slowly.

"_Fawkes?" _Harry breathed out, so only Amara and the phoenix could hear him. Amara gazed at the magnificent bird perched neatly on Harry's shoulder in awe. She had never seen a bird like it before – as wonderful, fiery and peaceful.

"And _that," _Riddle said. "Is the old school Sorting Hat."

Amara looked at the ragged bit of cloth at their feet and realised he was right – patches and dirty, the once upright sorting hat was lying motionless on the ground. Riddle began to laugh, very loudly. It made Amara wince as the whole chamber echoed his high, cold laughter as though they were mocking them.

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defenders! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe, Amara Matthews?"

Amara hated the way Riddle said her name, patronising and evil. She did not reply, because she did not feel safe at that current moment and wished she was somewhere else. She shuddered as he kept laughing, the noise ringing in her ears like alarm bells, warning her that something bad was about to happen.

"To business, Harry," said Riddle. "Twice – in _your _past, in _my _future – we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. _How did you survive? _Tell me everything. The longer you talk, the longer you stay alive."

Amara was weighing the options of coming out of the chamber alive in her mind. She had a wand, Harry was defenceless, and Fawkes the phoenix and the Sorting hat couldn't exactly duel. Riddle had a wand, could most definitely duel and had a Basilisk lurking somewhere, which could attack at any moment.

"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," said Harry abruptly. "I don't know myself. But I know why you couldn't _kill _me. Because my mother died to save me. My common _Muggle-born _mother. She stopped you killing me. And I've seen the real you. I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly, you're foul!"

Amara stared at Harry, for this was the first she had heard of why Voldemort had never been able to kill Harry as an infant.

"So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful counter-charm. I can see now – there is nothing special about you, after all. I wondered, you see. Because there are strange likenesses between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even _look _something alike … But after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."

Amara gulped as Harry tensed beside her. She stood firm and waited for Riddle to raise Harry's wand.

"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you and your little friend a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against famous Harry Potter, his Mudblood friend and the best weapons Dumbledore can give."

His gaze swept over Amara, Fawkes and the Sorting Hat before turning away and walking between the pillars where the statue of Slytherin stood. Riddle made a strange hissing noise and Amara realised with a jolt that he was speaking Parseltongue. Not knowing what he said, Amara looked up to see Slytherin's mouth opening and something stirring within its depths.

Amara and Harry backed up until they hit the chamber wall. Amara squeezed her eyes shut as something huge hit the stone floor. The Basilisk was in the chamber, ready to attack. Amara trembled as the snake on the floor uncoiled itself on the stone floor. Riddle said something else in Parseltongue which Amara knew was nothing helpful or good.

She good hear the Basilisk moving towards them, sliding along the floor. She felt Harry move away from her and she found he was tugging at her robes to make her move. They ran blindly sideways before she tripped over to floor. Amara fell, letting out a short scream before she landed hard on the floor, her head smacking against the stone. She trembled before everything suddenly went black.

-OOOOO-

"Amara?"

"Amara?"

"_Amara?"_

Amara shook herself slightly as the two voices above her called her name desperately. She opened her eyes groggily and wriggled her head.

"Whatsgoingon?"

"Amara?" asked Harry as Amara finally opened her eyes fully. Harry was staring down at her, covered in blood and slime.

"Yuck," she said before realising she had the same fate. "What happened?"

"I managed to kill the Basilisk – Fawkes helped, he punctured his eyes, and then we had to stab the diary and Riddle was gone!" Harry explained quickly.

Amara sat up carefully, wincing as her head pounded. A flash of red caught her eye and she turned to see a very frightened, but very alive Ginny sitting on the floor next to her.

"_Ginny!" _Amara shrieked before giving the girl a hug. "Thank _Merlin _you're alright! Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

"No," came Ginny's muffled reply. "But – but – I'm going to be expelled!"

Ginny lifted her face and Amara was startled to see she was crying.

"I d-didn't mean to, Amara, Riddle, Riddle _made _me – I – I'm so sorry. I tried to tell you, I swear but, but Percy –"

"It's OK, Ginny," said Amara. "He's gone, and Dumbledore won't expel you, because it wasn't your fault! We better get going, Ron'll be wondering where we are – how long was I out?"

"About half an hour," said Harry, helping her to her feet. "Are you sure you're alright? You're very pale."

"'M fine," said Amara, shrugging and saw Fawkes waiting for them at the Chamber entrance. Amara saw the dead Basilisk on the floor as they walked towards the bird, it was lying motionless in a pool of blood and the diary, which Harry was holding, along with a sword and the Sorting Hat, was ruined.

"What's with the sword?" asked Amara. "Where did you get that?"

"The hat," said Harry as he pocketed the diary and handed the sorting hat to Amara, who shoved it in her pocket. She held Ginny's hand tightly the entire time they went through the tunnel.

Soon they heard the distant sound of rock being moved, so they sped up.

"RON!" Amara yelled loudly through the tunnel. "Ginny's alright!"

Ron gave a yell of triumph as the hurried up the wall, which now had a nice gap that made them able to fit through.

"_Ginny!" _Ron said and pulled her through the hole, Amara hurrying after her. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What happened?"

He hugged her, eventhough Ginny was still trying not to cry again.

"You're okay, Ginny!" beamed Ron. "It's over now, it's – where did that bird come from?" Fawkes had just flown through the hole too.

"He's Dumbledore's," said Harry.

"And how come you've got a _sword?" _asked Ron, seeing the silver weapon in Harry's possession.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," said Harry.

"But –"

"Later," said Harry.

"Where's Lockhart, anyways?" asked Amara.

"Back there," grinned Ron, turning his head up the tunnel towards the pipe. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."

They walked back up to the pipe and saw Lockhart sitting neatly at the mouth of it, humming like a small child.

"His memory's gone," said Ron. "The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

Lockhart gazed up at them, smiling cheerily.

"Hello," he said. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

"No," said Ron as Amara tried not to smile.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" asked Harry to Ron. Ron shook his head, but Fawkes swooped past them and hovered in front Harry, waving his long tail of golden feathers at him.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold …" said Ron, bewildered. "But you're much too heavy for a bird to pull up there."

"Fawkes," said Harry. "Isn't an ordinary bird. We've got to hold on to each other. Amara, grab Ron's hand, and Ginny, you grab his other hand and Professor Lockhart –"

"He means you," said Ron, jabbing Lockhart.

"You hold Ginny's other hand."

Amara grabbed the back of Harry's robes as he clutched Fawkes' tail feathers. A lightness spread over her body as suddenly they whooshed into the air and up the pipe. Lockhart, from below, kept shouting "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!" Amara enjoyed the ride, eventhough her head was still slightly swimming from how hard she had hit it, and there was a little lump to prove it. All too soon they landed on the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. As they got to their feet, the entrance to the pipe sealed shut.

Myrtle goggled at them.

"You're alive," she said incredulously.

"There's no need to sound so disappointed," said Harry as they straightened themselves out.

"Oh well … I'd just been thinking. If you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," said Myrtle, blushing silver.

Amara snorted once they left the bathroom.

"Urgh!" said Ron. "Harry! I think Myrtle's got _fond _of you! You've got competition, Ginny!"

But Ginny had tears down her face and did not answer.

"Where do we go now?" asked Amara, but Fawkes answered for them.

He glowed along the corridor and they found themselves outside Professor McGonagall's office.

With a glance, Amara knocked on the door before pushing it open.


	17. The Explanation

**_A/N Last chapter :( Thanks for all the reviews :3 I am starting the Third year now, so (hopefully) i will get a chapter out soon - put me on Author alert or something, but I think I'll PM the reviewers if you want :) R&R_**

**_Chapter Seventeen_**

**_The Explanation_**

When they entered McGonagall's office, there was complete silence as Amara, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lockhart stood in the doorway, covered head to foot in slime, dirt and blood, in Harry's case. The silence was pierced by a very loud scream.

"_Ginny!"_

Mrs Weasley shot out of the chair she was sitting on to give Ginny a hug. Mr Weasley followed and joined in, both of them with shock on their faces. Professor Dumbledore was beaming at the mantelpiece whilst McGonagall was having some sort of panic-attack. Amara looked over to Ginny just as Mrs Weasley swept her, Harry and Ron into a jumbled up hug and squeezed them all tightly.

"You saved her! You saved her! _How _did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," said Professor McGonagall slightly weakly.

Mrs Weasley let them all go and Harry placed the diary and the sword on the desk. Amara followed and placed the Sorting hat on top of it.

Then, Harry began to explain everything that had happened in the year. They told them everything – the voice in the walls; Hermione realising; meeting Aragog; the mystery death that they realised was Myrtle and the entrance to the Chamber.

"Very well," said Professor McGonagall. "So you found out where the entrance was – breaking a hundred school rules into pieces along the way, I might add – but how on _earth _did you all get out of there alive, Potter, Matthews?"

Amara, whose head was still swimming, let Harry explain it instead, with her inputting in the things he forgot. He seemed to falter when he came to Riddle's diary and Ginny.

"What interests _me _most," said Dumbledore, "Is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me his currently in hiding in the forest of Albania."

Amara's heart filled into a happy bubble, knowing that Ginny was not going to be expelled.

"W-what's that?" said Mr Weasley. "_You Know Who? _En-enchant _Ginny? _But Ginny's not … Ginny hasn't been … has she?"

"It was this diary," said Harry. "Riddle wrote in it when he sixteen."

Dumbledore examined the diary that Harry gave him.

"Brilliant," he said softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turned to the Weasleys, who were looking extremely puzzled with the conversation.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school … travelled far and wide … sank so deeply into the dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognisable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But Ginny," said Mrs Weasley. "What's our Ginny got to go with – with – _him?"_

"His d-diary!" sobbed Ginny. "I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year –"

"_Ginny!" _said Mr Weasley. "Haven't I taught you _anything? _What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself _if you can't see where it keeps its brain. _Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was _clearly _full of Dark Magic!"

"I d-didn't know," Ginny wept. "I found it inside one of the books Mum got me. I th-thought someone had just left it in there and forgotten about it …"

"Miss Weasley should go up to the hospital wing straight away," interjected Dumbledore firmly. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort. Bed rest and perhaps a large, steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. You will find Madam Pomfrey still awake. She's just giving out the Mandrake juice – I dare say the Basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"Hermione's OK!" grinned Amara happily.

"There will be no lasting harm done," said Dumbledore.

Ginny and her parents left through the door that Dumbledore had opened, all looking pale and shaken.

"You know, Minerva," said Dumbledore. "I think all this merits a good _feast. _Might I as you to go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," said Professor McGonagall. "I'll leave you to deal with Potter, Weasley and Miss Matthews, shall I?"

"Certainly," said Dumbledore.

Amara's head was still spinning as McGonagall left. Ron and Harry were looking panicked, as though Dumbledore was going to expel them after saving the school.

"I seem to remember telling you two that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," said Dumbledore.

Ron gaped at him in horror.

"Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat out words," Dumbledore carried on. "You three will all receive Special Awards for Services to the School and – let me see – yes, I think two hundred points each for Gryffindor."

Amara blushed as he said those words.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore continued. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Lockhart in question was standing vaguely in a corner, not looking as though he knew he was there. He didn't even know that Dumbledore was talking to him, for he looked around for the person he had addressed.

"Professor Dumbledore," said Ron. "There was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart –"

"Am I a Professor?" asked Lockhart in surprise. "Goodness, I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," explained Ron.

"Dear me," said Dumbledore, looking as though he was trying to not smile. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" said Lockhart dumbly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has though," he added, pointing his hand to Harry, who was clutching the silver sword in his hand. "He'll lend you one."

"Would you two mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the hospital wing, too?" Dumbledore asked Amara and Ron. "And you can get your head checked out, Miss Matthews, just in case. I'd like a few more words with Harry …"

Amara nodded and left the office with Ron, who was looking curiously behind him.

When they were walking up to the hospital, just like it was a normal day, Amara started to giggle.

"What?" asked Ron, as he tugged Lockhart along with him, as he did not know where he was going.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Amara said. "This stuff been going on all year and now it's stopped. Just like that!"

"Yeah," said Ron. "I see what you mean." He grinned.

"And, Hermione's going to be awake too! I can't wait to tell her that we found her note!" Amara sighed happily.

The school was deserted as they made their way up the corridor, talking about what had happened that day.

When they arrived in the hospital wing (whilst tugging on Lockhart's robes) they saw Ginny lying on a hospital bed with Mr and Mrs Weasley beside her, drinking from a steaming mug. Madam Pomfrey was going to each person who had been petrified and giving them something from a bowl. Once she saw them, however, she hurried over.

"What's the matter? You lot were there too – what's wrong with him?" she demanded.

"Memory Charm – he doesn't know who he is," Ron explained. "And Amara was knocked out in the Chamber, so she might need some help."

Madam Pomfrey led them over to two empty beds beside Ginny. Mrs Weasley gave them both another hug as Madam Pomfrey guided Lockhart down. She checked over Amara first.

"Yes, you are still a little woozy – here, drink this and you'll be better straight away," she gave Amara a purple potion that she drank quickly. Immediately, her head began to clear and she smiled. Madam Pomfrey then checked-over Ron (him complaining the entire time) before thrusting two steaming mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, and running off to check on Mrs Norris, who had let out a 'meow' on a cushion the other side of the room.

Amara and Ron decided to wait for Hermione to wake up so they could go down to the feast together. Madam Pomfrey managed to check her over before Amara tackled her into a hug.

"Hermione!" she said as she squeezed her.

"You solved it!" Hermione laughed as she was let go.

"All thanks to you!" said Amara. "You're the one who got the paper from the library!"

Madam Pomfrey soon shooed them out so they would be able to enjoy the feast.

-OOOOO-

The feast in the very early morning was nothing like Amara had had before, for she had never gone to sleep that night. Everyone was celebrating happily in their pyjamas (except Amara, Ron, Harry and the rest of the Petrified people) and there was an amazing feast to go with it. The celebrations lasted all night, and Amara loved every minute. She could not wait to tell her family about what it was like (Dumbledore had also said that he'd be informing them). Justin finally apologised to Harry and Hagrid turned up at half past three, hugging the three of them so hard Amara thought she was going to burst. Gryffindor also won the House Cup the second year in a row, because Amara's, Ron's and Harry's six hundred points secured them most definitely in first place. Professor McGonagall also stood up to tell them that the exams they were going to have were cancelled, as a school treat and Professor Dumbledore saying that Professor Lockhart was unable to continue with his post as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, because he needed to be transferred to help him get his memory back. Amara cheered loudly along with the entire hall when this news was read out.

"Shame," said Ron as he helped to himself to more pudding. "He was starting to grow on me."

-OOOOO-

Amara immensely enjoyed the last few weeks leading up to the summer holidays. The weather was reflecting their moods and the sun shined brightly the entire time. The periods they were meant to have Defence Against the Dark Arts was spent lazing about in the sun, trying to explain to Hermione why cancelling the exams were a good thing and visiting Hagrid in his hut. Lucius Malfoy had also been sacked as school governor, which meant Draco could no longer strut around the school as though he was god. In fact, nowadays he was sullen and grumpy to everyone, which everyone ignored. Ginny was finally happy again, and Amara always made sure she was having a good time with her first-year friends or with her and Hermione.

All in all, Amara was sad to leave Hogwarts for another year. They had to leave too soon though, and on the journey back to London, Amara, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny all squeezed themselves into a compartment and made the most of what magic they were able to do. They practised disarming themselves, set off Fred and George's Filibuster Fireworks and played Exploding Snap. They also had a game of 'not-choking-for-the-longest, which involved eating Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans.

Once they were nearly back to Kings Cross, Harry turned to Ginny.

"Ginny – what did you see Percy doing, that he didn't want you to tell anyone?" he asked.

"Oh, that," said Ginny, giggling. "Well – Percy's got a _girlfriend."_

Fred dropped the books he was holding for Amara onto George's head.

"_What?"_

"It's the Ravenclaw Prefect, Penelope Clearwater," said Ginny. "That's who he was writing to all last summer. He's been meeting her all over the school in secret. I walked in on them kissing in an empty classroom one day. He was so upset when she was – you know – attacked. You won't tease him, will you?" she asked.

Amara giggled as Fred said. "Wouldn't dream of it,"

"Definitely not," said George, who was sniggering with Amara.

As the Hogwarts Express finally stopped, Harry gave Amara, Ron and Hermione each a scrap of parchment with a number on it.

"This is called a telephone number," he told Ron. "I told your dad how to use a telephone last summer, he'll know. Call me at the Dursleys, OK? I can't stand another two months with Dudley to talk to …"

"Your Aunt and Uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they hurried off the train. "When they hear what you did this year/"

"Proud?" asked Harry. "Are you mad? Al those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious …"

Amara laughed as they went through the gateway and into the muggle world. She saw her family waiting outside the barrier anxiously, waiting for her to arrive. When they saw her, Tessie ran up to her and gave her a hug, blabbering on about how they received the letter from Dumbledore.

Amara smiled, eventhough she loved Hogwarts, it was great to be back with her family, on the other side.

_~End of Second Year~_


End file.
